When I was seven years old in Peru, I had memories of my grandfather, who was talkative and close to me.  I always saw him busy.  He liked to repair things and whistle.  I remember that I used to play with him and listen to his stories.  But there was something very special that he had, and he took good care of it.  It was a big, strong table.  He had it in his bedroom.  He told me that he built it himself.  The table fulfilled two functions: it was a normal table that had a space below, where he kept all his tools, which he guarded with care.  He didn’t let anybody touch his tools, and neither did he lend them, because he said that when you lend things, nobody takes care of them.  My grandfather was a person who knew a lot of things, like construction, carpentry, electricity, and shoe repair.  He was always wanted by the neighbors, to hire his services.  Even sometimes, when he was already 70 years old, he liked to take me to his job.  Soon, my grandfather passed away, and the table that he built, was kept for some years with all his memorabilia, until they renovated the house; and his table that was so special to me, was lost in the renovation.  It made me very sad, because it belonged to my grandfather, and to my childhood.

– Yonathan Galvez

Relationship:  Im/migrant Im/migrant