After Aunt Teresa passed away we were invited to her apartment to see if there was anything that meant something to us. I chose this teapot and her yearbook from Quinnipiac College. It's an aluminum teapot that Aunt Bernadette, Aunt Teresa, and Grandma King had in their house. I chose this because it brought me back. It brought me back to the days that, through my eyes, the family was whole: Grandma King, nine children, spouses, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. I still feel Christmas at Grandma King's, deeply: everybody converging on her second-floor apartment in West Haven, Irish bread, and lemon meringue pie. She was Irish, and when I was twenty I learned where her roots were with my grandparents. My grandfather was so excited to meet his Uncle Stevie and finally get to know the Aughrus Peninsula. There was a time that the image of the aluminum teapot in the Irish kitchen was iconic. Now, I have one in my kitchen.

– William Thomas

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