“Small” Things That Have Big Meaning
My mom bought me this little figurine for me for Hanukkah when I was little. In sign language this is the gesture for “I Love You”, and whenever I was in a performance, giving a presentation, etc. my mom would sign me I love you and it always was a sense of comfort and love from her.
To normal people this may just be a passport, but to me it is an escape. One of my biggest passions in life is traveling and exploring new cultures. This small packet of bounded paper is my ticket to all of those adventurers that I mentally plan in my head.
These are the figurines that rest on my desk everyday. I have collected them from multiple places I have traveled to and they each hold the memories for that trip. I have my most incredible trip to Africa, Israel, and Finland this past January. In addition to photographs these little figures remind me of travel and exploration.
This is my mom golden bow ring that she was given by her mother for her 16th birthday. I was supposed to get the ring when I turned 16, but my mom was not ready to give up that connection to her mother yet. I am looking forward to the day that I get to have a connection to my grandmother and mom on my hand everyday.
Everyday when I come downstairs I pass these flowers, and it is filled with the biggest and sweetest sentiment. Any time my brother or I have given my brother flowers for something she takes a single one out of the bunch and adds it to this vase. It is a collection of all the love that my brother and I have shown my mom over the past few years.
My mom owned a hiking and camping store in NYC from when I was a little girl. It was in the family for over 50 years. A lot of her employees came from Nepal, and I was given these prayer flags from one of her employees. These are super special to me because my dad and are supposed to be climbing Mt.Everest this May. We have seen lots of photos that these prayer flags surround the different campsites. We are so excited to hopefully bring our own flags and add them to this most incredible location in the world.
When I was a little girl my grandma and grandpa got me a charm bracelet. Every time a big life milestone occurred or they went on a super incredible trip they would get me a charm to add to my bracelet. It was a special connection just between me and them. Now that they have passed I have cherished this bracelet with all my heart and it reminds me of them and all the memories that I had with them as the favorite granddaughter.
These tea cups were my great grandmothers and have been passed to my grandma, then my mom and now me. They are super delicate and fragile and mean the world to my mom as one of the few tings she has from her grandmother. My mom and I have now even made our own special events with them. For my 21st bday, my mom and I went to have high tea, which is a tradition for us, and we made sure to bring the cups and cherish the memory of my grandma and great-grandma.
This is my grandparents headstone, but also a source of my identity. This is where the Small name came from and helped shape our family into who we are today. With Small as our last name, we are quite the opposite, we are the loudest most rambunctious group of family members one has ever encountered and we love each other fiercely.