I’ve had these stuffed fish for as long as I can remember. I had them with me every day, everywhere, all the time up until I started preschool when I was three years old. They were on my mobile when I was a baby, but I don’t remember that. There were two other stuffed fish on my mobile too, but these ones stood out to me. I thought that the colors of these stuffed fish were prettier. They are soft, and about the size of a computer mouse. You can tell by the stains on them that they’re not exactly brand-new. I honestly don’t know who gave them to me, but I don’t care. They are still important to me.  I think that a lot of my family members still remember my stuffed fish and how I would always carry them around. The way I would stroke their fins with one hand and suck my thumb with the other. I had to get braces because of my habit of sucking my thumb. But whenever I think about my old habit, I think of the objects that were present when I was doing so. They represent the rowdy toddler I once was. They are so important to me because they’ve been with me since the very beginning. I lived the first three years of my life with these stuffed fish.  They are in a lot of the photos that my parents took when I was a baby which also means that they’re in a lot of my memories as well. They represent my childhood. And the dirt on them reminds me of the places we went and things we did together. I might not be the person I am now without my stuffed fish.

– E

Relationship:  Im/migrant Im/migrant