Every family has traditions, or does something special whenever an important event happens in their lives. For my family, at the birth of a new child, the grandparents on both sides of the family, mother’s and father’s, go out of their way to buy new clothes and jewerly for the child. If the child chooses not to wear the jewerly, it does not pose a big issue, due to the fact that it can be passed down from generation to generation. Although it may not seem that special, my family finds this as a way to show love, affection, and appreciation. On the other hand, the child may not realize this until a later age, as I did. They may just interpret this as a normal gesture that happens when any child is born. All the children in my family had the same thoughts, so I can confirm that this was really significant to us until we fully understood what the true meaning behind it was. In addition to this, the younger generation of my family has known this for a good portion of our lives. To clarify, a chain is one of the most popular items that runs through my family. It represents connection, since not all of my family can be together all the time. Each of my family members have different values for these items but for me it is especially important. For example, When I was about nine or ten years old, my grandmother had told me that we are connected by this new chain she had gotten me and ever since then, I had valued it like no other item I had owned in the past. To conclude, this is why any chain or jewely is very important to my life as it symbolizes family and connection.

– Rahul Jadhav

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