In 1822, my family immigrated to the U.S from Germany. We brought a Santa gnome with us. I don’t know why, but ever since then it's been at all family gatherings, any ALWAYS christmas. When I look at it, I feel more connected to my predecessors, as we don’t know much about them. And apparently, we know NOTHING about them! My dad always SAID it was from Germany, but recently I was feeling skeptical, so I did a Google-image search. It's from 1950. My dad is sorta dumb. But even though my santa isn't actually from 1822, I find it doesn't get rid of that connection for me. In fact, I was hesitant to even include this in the story. It still gets me to think and wonder about their stories, and after all Santa IS from Germany. In my mind, nothing's changed except for my perception of my dad’s memory. My little Santa dude will always remind me of my ancestors in Germany. 

– JW

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