This is my great, great grandmother's yellow ceramic bud vase. Her name was Julia Stark, she immigrated on her own from Minsk which used to be located in Russia (it is now part of Belarus) just after 1900 when she was fifteen years old. She arrived in the port of Baltimore where her sister had lived.This was one of the few things she was able to hold on to when she came to America. Being that her family in Russia was very poor, they owned very few things. The vase was not talked about very much, as it brought up very painful memories. Nobody really knows the backstory of the vase from when it was in Russia, but my grandmother grew up seeing it in her grandmother’s apartment. Though there aren’t any known stories having to do with the vase specifically, it is still very significant to my family. My grandmother and her sister spent their adolescent years with that vase next to them. They have very vivid memories of spending time with Julia having the vase right around the corner. After Julia passed my grandma and her immediate family cleaned out her apartment deciding what would go where. Julia was one of the most influential people in my grandma’s life, and the only thing that seemed to remind her of Julia was the vase. There was something indescribable about the vase that reminded my grandmother of Julia. The yellow vase is extremely important to my family because it is the only thing that Julia was able to bring with her, and it is the only thing aside from memories that keeps her alive. To this day it is in perfect condition and is extremely strong just like she once was. 

– LN

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