This object comes from my mother's side of the family. She has always been the cook of the house and no Filipino meal would be complete without a side of Jasmine rice. My grandmother bought it for my mom when she first moved out of the house after college. She considered it a staple for any Asian household and wanted to make sure she kept to her roots. Due to this, having any dinner without a fresh bowl of rice along with it just feels wrong to me. And now that I'm going off to college in the fall, my mother told me that she'll get me a brand new rice cooker for me when I leave. She wants me to keep the traditions that her mother taught her and that she taught me to stay alive. My mother moved to the United States with her family when she was five years old. My grandmother was so bent on her assimilating to American culture that she only spoke english to her. Now, my mother can't speak tagalog. She wishes she did so that she could have passed it down to me. Since she can't do this, she figures that she can at least pass on her Filipino culture through food. I plan to do just that and give my child the same housewarming gift when they reach that age.

– Jasmine Thomas

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