For my Your Story/Our Story object, I chose an old, wooden PO box that my family keeps as an heirloom. PO boxes or post office boxes were invented during the 1860s, as the need for mail to be convenient to send and receive began to grow. The impact of these PO boxes would be fully felt by my family during the 1940s, as a need to ship mail to one another arose. This was because of World War 2, which separated many families, including my own. My great-grandfather and his brother were both sent off to war during WW2, and to keep in touch with my family during that time, they had to send letters from where they were in Europe. After WW2, my great-great-grandparents felt as though the PO box, which had helped them receive the mail from their sons, held a significant amount of sentimental value. After the post office that held the PO box shut down, my great-great-grandparents held onto the box as a memento of the hardships that our family had overcome. Later on, my great-great-grandparents passed the PO box down to my great-grandparents, who then passed it down to my grandparents. Eventually, my grandparents will pass the PO box down to my parents, who far into the future from now will pass it down to one of my siblings or me. My family holds onto this box with fond memories, as it reminds us of how we will always stick together through hardship. 

– Wesley Terrell

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