My parents received this Matryoshka set from a relative abroad when I was a child. Ever since, it has followed us through our apartments in Brooklyn and into our first home in Staten Island. The doll, seemingly unremarkable, used to captivate me as a child. Its multi-faceted nature and its endless quality kept me occupied for hours when I was younger. I vividly remember sitting on the floor of my living room in Brooklyn, watching as each piece interlocked with the others. As I grew older, I began to ask questions about the set. It was then that I learned about its Russian origin and began to learn more about the intersections between my mother’s Ukrainian heritage and my father’s Russian upbringing. Despite being geographically close together, subtle differences in their stories made me realize the versatility within each of their migrations into America. While the dolls show nothing more than a brief smile on their face, they carry the weight of cultural significance, evidence of the countries in which my parents came. They hold memories of my childish play and the early questions that helped me understand where I came from. The dolls nestled within each other remind me of my parents' stories, hidden from view yet waiting to be discovered by the right set of hands. Even left untouched on the shelf, our Matryoshka continues to hold our past within. 

– CR

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