I immigrated to the U.S. as a child. All my life I have been keenly aware of what is “American” and what is not. When I had my first child, a family friend gifted us with this simple cotton blanket for the baby. My thought at the time was how inappropriate this blanket was for the baby, how the fringes may get into his mouth. Korean baby blankets are smooth and small. Now that this child is 11 years old, this blanket is one of the more quintessentially “American” things in my closet. As an immigrant you are forever assimilating and retaining. My disapproval for the blanket was well-disguised at the baby shower. But after all these years, it was hard to discard something so plain and simple and very “American”. Having lived in the U.S. for over 30 years I guess I have enough of my own “American” things, or at least I am at peace with the mix-matched state of my linen closet. I can now let this one go.
- 72.
Leeah Joo - Middlebury, CT