My family is from Puerto Rico. Food and music is a deep part of our culture and identity.  There is always homemade food and good music playing during every special occasion. Every Thanksgiving after football, we'd run home and there was a feast waiting for us.The grandmothers on all sides of my family have a special gift.  They cook at the very last minute when they know someone is visiting .  It’s like magic.  “How did you make that pot of rice and beans so fast, Wella??” We were always amazed and knew we could always go there to fill our bellies.  She wasn’t selfish either. She feeds the neighbors and is known as The Queen of Evergreen.When I was a baby, my great-grandmother, Mama, took care of me while my parents worked.  She fattened me up like a Thanksgiving turkey.  My mom said doctors told her I was overweight. Mom responded, “we’re Puerto Rican, our babies are all fat because our grandmas don’t like skinny kids”.  Mama always asked me “ Comiste?” If I said no she would sit me down, make some “Mama’s soup”  and shove it in my mouth. Literally. To this day she calls me ‘Flacochin’ which means small skinny boy in Spanish.  Food is at the center of our family and I understand now that it’s because the recipes were one of the only things that my elders brought with them when leaving Puerto Rico.
 

– Jaivan Burgos

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