59 Beads assembled in one chain, fifty-nine beads that tell a story. A silver rosary, that in less than a year, engraved itself into my heart and soul. At three years old my mother and I left our lives and loved ones in Mexico to find better opportunities in the US. The doleful memory that penetrates my mind every time I remember that day seems to grow stronger each day. Recalling the tears sliding through my grandmother’s skin, forming a river which I had to swim through in order to not drown. Leaving my grandmother and getting on that life changing minivan was a depressing moment. 13 years without being able to visit my hometown, thirteen years without the comfort of my grandmother’s presence. On 2017 comes a gift from heaven sent from an angel itself. A silver rosary with fifty-nine beads that all connect directly to a man on a cross. A man which seems to be me, trapped in a cross not being able to get out and be free to visit loved ones far from me. Everytime I stare at that precious rosary I just seem to have all my family from Mexico right by my side, taking it off my neck and holding it in my palms feeling everyone’s presence as if every being of my family was there, holding my hand. One day we’ll reunite and I will be able to tell her and everyone in my hometown fifty-nine times how much I’ve missed them.

– Jaime

Relationship:  Im/migrant who arrived as a child Im/migrant who arrived as a child