My grandparents immigrated from Germany in 1963 to New York where they started their life in America. When I was born they lived in Hellertown, Pennsylvania where I would visit them once a month. I was always bored there as a child. With nothing fun for a little kid and with my dad and grandfather always in the garage working I would run out of things to do. The two of them would always be working on something, whether it was fixing furniture or starting a project for fun, but the thing that always stuck out to me were the tools they used. The garage was packed with large machines and handcrafted German tools that I was always curious about. When my grandfather died in 2009 my grandmother moved in with me and my family, leaving many of the tools behind. At my house the remaining ones sat in the basement for my dad to use, by himself. Until recently these tools have been in my basement but now, with me getting older, I have begun to use them in my own projects, which has in a way, connected me to my grandfather that I feel like I never really got to truly know. My family has always had a culture of fixing things and these tools allowed me to connect to this German culture in America, and forming much of what I consider to be my own American identity today. 

– Luca Swan

Relationship:  Grandchild of im/migrant Grandchild of im/migrant