My grandmother is sixty-four years young and is a loving mother of two. She is a Christian woman born in a small village outside Zenica, Yugoslavia, but her life was never easy. She never attended high school because of financial difficulties. During the 1990s, Yugoslavia started to collapse because of the Yugoslav wars, she moved around several cities to avoid the violence. Her family fled to multiple cities like Sarajevo and Zemun, but they ended up in Beograd. The object I chose is my grandmother's watch from the USSR. My great-grandfather gave it to my grandmother as a gift when she was around ten years old. The watch reminded her to be patient because God gives blessings as long as you wait. After the wars in Yugoslavia ended, my father and grandparents finally received their citizenship and moved to the United States in 2002 after several years of waiting. My grandmother left the watch in Serbia, fearing border patrol would take it, and never saw the watch again for twenty years. However, when I visited Serbia last summer, I found the watch and returned it to her when I returned to the U.S. My grandmother was shocked, to say the least. The relationship between my grandmother and her watch had a significant impact on her life, teaching her patience and that God will bestow his blessings on someone when the time is right. My family's patience ultimately paid off, allowing us to live in a safe environment and have a better life than my family did in the past.

– Nemanj Pantic

Relationship:  Im/migrant Im/migrant