They say diamonds are a girl's best friend, but are they really? In this case, they undoubtedly are. One of the objects that I hold very dear to me are earrings that once belonged to my great grandmother. My family is made up of multiple heritages, some part Croatian, Hungarian, German, Italian and the list goes on. However, I chose to describe the piece of jewelry that has been in my family for, quite possibly, the longest. My great grandmother received these earrings on her birth date, a date that runs in my family, quite terrifyingly. Both she, my grandmother and my sister were all born on a Friday, and on the 13th of February. The earrings are gold-plated, and have little vintage rubies embedded all over them. These earrings are old, and come from the middle part of Szabadszállás, a town in Hungary. I received them when I was born, as they were passed down by my mother from when she received them. To me they symbolize rebirth, because they get passed down whenever there is a birth in the family. The earrings are important to me because they belonged to people that I hold very dear. Similarly, Hungarians have a long tradition of making hand-crafted wooden objects, like tools, toys and ornaments that have been crafted for centuries. Likewise, they are also known for their fine jewelry, which is an example of what my great grandmother received when she was born.

– Melitta Deljanin

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