These two pink and gold Turkish coffee cups, which look a bit like flowers, belong to my great-aunt, who used to live in Lebanon. Her family had lived there comfortably for generations, and considered Lebanon home. By the time she was in her twenties, her neighbors were suddenly not so friendly anymore. Anti-Semitism was spreading with the rise of the Six Day War, and most Jews decided it was time to leave. Some of my family moved to Israel, while others came to America. So did these two cups. 
I can imagine my great-aunt going through her belongings with her mother, deciding what to take and what to leave behind. I imagine she had no room for fur coats and beautiful paintings, but these coffee cups were more than enough. They would be a reminder of the good old days, when she would invite her neighbors over for coffee, and they would sit for hours talking about nothing. They would now represent the hope that one day, she would drink from these coffee cups with a new, more welcoming neighbor, here in America. Whenever I visit her house, there are always two cups waiting on the table, with some freshly baked Lebanese desserts. Although our coffees greatly differ by the presence of milk and sugar in mine, we share a happiness that these cups get to be used, here in America.  

– Gabi Cohen

Relationship:  Grandchild of im/migrant Grandchild of im/migrant