My grandmother, Elda moved to New York with my grandfather Tom, a U.S. citizen, and her two sons, my father and my uncle. She had to leave many things behind, but brought with her mementos of home. Among these are her molinillos which have sat on her counter in a big clay pot for as long as I can remember. She told me that she feels the most connected to Mexico while cooking. She said that "[the molinillos] remind me of my background, and when you do that sometimes you think back in your memory... good times, places, people, things… I do most of that when I'm cooking. And I think in my mind of my mother’s meals, my house, what we cooked, the smells, the taste.” She has always told me stories from both her life in New York and her life in Mexico. Usually her stories came while she was cooking and every story came with a dish. It was in this way that I become connected to my heritage growing up without a Mexican community. From tortillas to pozole she showed me how she cooked and taught me ways to make connections not only to my own past through food, but to her past as well. While she mostly uses her molinillos as a way to remember her roots, I hope that one day soon we can create memories of using the molinillos together.  

– Sonia

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant