This rosary was my great-grandmother's, which she had always worn since she was a little girl (1921). Around the age of 12, after her father's passing, she immigrated with her mother to the United States from Sicily, Italy, with nothing but $5 and this rosary. With nothing to her name but those beads in her bag and the clothes on her back, she made such a life for herself. While her life growing up isn't very well-known to me or my family, I do know that once she was older, she started a family and had three children (two girls and one boy, one who would eventually end up being my grandmother). They lived in a beautiful home in New York, where she was able to watch her children grow and enjoy her life in America. As time went on, each generation grew larger, with me being the youngest one. She luckily was able to watch me grow up until she sadly passed away at the age of 98. She was a large part of all my family's lives, especially since none of us would be here without her immigrating to America. Throughout all those years, this was the one possession she never let go of, and in her final days, she passed it along to my mother. Who will eventually pass it down to me. Her story is one I can't even imagine. All the struggles and fear she had to endure coming to a whole new area of the world at such a young age, without a father on top of it all. So, while these might be seen as a regular rosary, to me and my family, they mean so much more; they show the resilience and courage that our family was fueled on, and I can't be any prouder of that.

– VV

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