This is the picture of the spoon that I took from my mother when we were separated. It is important to me because on the day I took the spoon I was going to travel with my siblings to live with our dad in New York, and there were a lot of people in my neighborhood who came to say goodbye to us. My mother and I couldn't hug, kiss, cry, and say “Bye-Bye”. So when everyone go got, I rain and took the spoon. When I came to the United States I was talking on the phone with my mother and she said “I think I lost my spoon the day you left the house.” I just laughed, but she understood that it was me who took the spoon from her. She said the spoon was very important to her because it was her mother who gave it to her. In the past in their village, there were not many spoons for her mother to buy in the market. Her mother made marks on the spoons she was able to find and gave them to her children. When she finished telling me how she got the spoon, she said “It's Okay!” I just have to take care of the spoon. When I was finished talking with her, I decided to take good care of this spoon. Every time I miss my mother, I'm going to open my suitcase and give the spoon a big hug and kiss. To conclude, I am going to keep this spoon so that the day I see my mother again I can show it to her and she will see that I took care of her spoon.  

– Aminata Diakite

Relationship:  Im/migrant Im/migrant