My Great Grandfather, Al, on my mothers side served in the South Pacific during World War II. The United States was defending democracy and human rights in Europe against Hitler and ownership of goods in the South Pacific with Japan at the same time. In addition to the chaos of the world at the time, my great grandparents' marriage went against religious norms. My great grandmother, Ethel, was catholic and Al was Jewish. My great grandfather knew how precious his love and relationship was with my great grandmother and that his life could be taken from him at any moment. When he was serving in WWII he had pictures of them and he was concerned they would get damaged if they didn’t have a protective cover. It took almost a year for my great grandmother to acquire the locket, and pack it so it would not be damaged but also be able to be inspected before my great grandfather received it. He carried the locket with him like a soldier carries their tags. Upon his return from the war he kept it in his dresser top drawer, and let my great aunt take it on her Girl Scout trips to D.C, New England and Canada camping, Appalachian Trail and then Australia. After he passed my great grandmother let my great aunt take the locket with her as she continued to travel and backpack. My great aunt passed the locket down to my aunt (my mom’s sister) as she and my uncle travel a lot. Recently, there have been special 3-D copies of the locket made so everyone on my mom’s side of the family can have a copy and the reminder of the love my great grandparents shared. 

– Amelia Lovering

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