Tucked away in my great-aunt's bookshelf drawer resides a silver spoon representing more than just a utensil. The silver spoon pictured on the left represents opulence, but also the fall of wealth in the Soviet Union. My great-grandmother received this spoon as a wedding gift in 1947 and has kept it since. The spoon wasn’t part of a set of utensils. Rather, it was bought at a local bazaar in Korosten, Ukraine, indicating that the spoon was likely stolen from a noble family during the Bolshevik revolution. When immigrating to America in 1992, my great-grandmother and my mother were only allowed to carry two small bags of things through customs. None of the items were to be of value, but for some reason, my great-grandmother knew she wanted that spoon with her. In order to ensure that the spoon would be brought in safely, my mother then entrusted one of her closest friends (a criminal in Ukraine) to escort her and her family to customs in Moscow so they could smuggle the spoon. This spoon has gone from being stored in my great-grandmother’s drawer due to its impracticality to now residing in my great-aunt's drawer as a family heirloom. 

– Leah Goryachkovsky

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