I never met my great grandparents, that isn't to say I never wanted to. Though i was always told about them by my mother. Especially my late grandmother. My grandparents, Rafael Martinez, and Juana Ruiz, came to Brooklyn New York from Puerto Rico in the 50s. taking their children (my uncle and grandfather) with them. They were enrolled in a catholic school shortly after. Being a catholic was always a massive thing in my family, as well in any other Hispanic family. I haven't known any other type of Christianity other than catholosism, and while I'm personally agnostic, Istill find comfort in the religion because that's how I grew up. In addition to this fact, I was always told by my mother that my grandmother was very religious, and that she had statues of Jesus, Mary and the saints she used to pray to. This wasn't something abnormal either for me. When my great grandmother eventually passed away, my mother was the one who inherited those statues. Ever since then, they have been put upon her top shelf in her closet. Not to hide them, but to act as a shrine. Despite the statues direct use in order to pray to the saints, I see it as a way to remember the story of my grandparents and how they even got to us in the first place. The statues, to me, are a symbol of deep familial ties going across the mainland to Puerto Rico and back.

– LR

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more