Sharing Stories

Students from both Saint Francis Xavier School and Saint Thomas of Canterbury have been sharing and posting family stories as part of our Matchbox Dairy One Book collaboration. We have been reading these stories together in class and posting comments. We are now looking forward to meeting one another face to face later in the month. 

Here is my own family story.

Mrs. Nagel

My grandmother immigrated to the United States in 1901. She was born in Saintfield, Northern Ireland, and lived on the street pictured. When she was eleven years old, her father left for the United States to find work. She, her mother and her brother were to come once he had a job. Unfortunately, her mother became ill with influenza and died suddenly, so my grandmother traveled alone with her brother to the United States landing in East Boston. She returned to Saintfield in the 1970’s and tried to find her relatives without success. Recently, online records allowed me to find and contact some of her family. Two years ago my son and I traveled to Saintfield to meet them. They remembered the stories of my grandmother leaving Ireland, but did not know what had happened to her. Together they helped us to locate her childhood home and her grandfather’s shop. We all had tea together in this shop which is now a tea house. Tea was my grandmother’s favorite treat so it seems fitting that we met her family there! I remember having tea often with my grandmother at her home in the United States. She had a special “brown betty” teapot and tea cozy that she used everyday, so for me a special object that helps to tell the story of her life is her teapot.

My Immigration Story By Yun

My mother’s Vietnamese name is Trinh, which means snow. My mom was born in South Vietnam and her religion is Buddhism. When my mom was young, she loved going to school and she worked hard to get a good education.  She had to wash dishes in a restaurant to pay her tuition when she was only thirteen. Her mother was too poor to pay for school because her father was fighting in the Vietnam War. Then, he was injured and lost his leg so he could not work. 

When my mom finished school in Vietnam, she wanted to study Cantonese and went to live in Singapore with a friend.  After my mom finished school she got married and I was born in Singapore. 

When I was four we moved to Chicago. Then my mom had another baby, my brother Willy. 

When I was eleven I went to Vietnam with my mom and Willy. We went there because my grandfather was very sick and dying. After a few days he died. Then, in Vietnam, my mom told me the story of my dad. I never knew it. I had always believed that my stepfather was my natural father. That was a shocking day for me.

My dad died when I only two and that is why I don’t remember him. My mom said that she was very sad and so was I. When I was about four, my mom married again to the man I believed was my natural father. She wanted me to love him and so decided not to tell me until I was older. 

So, my natural father was Ho Long Xin.  He was born in Singapore and met my mom at school. They were married and had me in 2001.  I would have grown up in Singapore if my dad had lived.  When he died, we went to America and that is how I ended up here in Chicago.