This wheelchair represents all the sacrifices that my Grandmother made when she was working in America while my dad, aunts, and uncles were still in the Philippines. When she was in America, she was a medical worker and had a small hint of breast cancer, but that didn't hinder her from working for her children. When her breast cancer became worse, she begged for my father to come to America even though he was under the age. And thanks to the Chinese Immigrants from the 1850s, the Immigration and Nationality Act became a thing and allowed my father come in with the intention of family reunification. When he arrived in America, the first thing he saw was his mother in a wheelchair and all the memories of how she cared for him when he was younger came flowing in. From that moment, he knew his mother's time was shortening and he had to make the most with his time in America with her.

The phone card represents how my mother came to America. Before my father came to America, he had a farewell party where she was invited and they gave their numbers to each other. Once my father was in America, he avidly communicated with my mother with a phone card. In one call, he asked my mother when she would be coming to America because he wanted to get married. My dad called my Grandma on my mother's side and convinced her to let my mom come to America to marry him. Thanks to my Grandma on my dad's side, he was an American citizen. So in a similar fashion to how his mother got him to go to America through reunification, he was able to get my mother to America because they were getting married.

– Khristofer Lumba

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant