I Almost Threw It Away

Tami Dee García

August 25, 2026 · 8 min

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Tami almost threw away her great-grandmother's rocking chair more than once. She didn't know the story behind it, only that it had always been there. Then one ordinary afternoon looking through old family photos, something clicked, and the idea behind everything she now teaches was born.

This episode traces the origin story of the Heritage Fragment Framework, the idea she uses with every guest on this show, back to the moment it actually started, and gives you a simple way to find your own.

The story

For years, the rocking chair was just there. It had been in the family for as long as I could remember, and more than once I came close to getting rid of it. I did not know its story, so it did not feel like it held one.

Then, on an ordinary afternoon spent looking through old family photographs, it clicked. The chair had made the journey from Jamaica to New York City in the early 1900s, the same journey my great-grandmother made. It had outlasted the people who could have told me about it. And it had been sitting in plain sight the whole time.

That moment changed how I looked at everything I owned. I started to notice the names, recipes, objects, and sayings that had quietly survived in my family, and the gaps where something was missing. I began calling them Heritage Fragments, and they became the foundation of the work I do now, including the question I ask every guest on this show.

In this episode I share that origin story, explain what a Heritage Fragment actually is, and give you a simple way to find your own this week.

Heritage Fragment

My great-grandmother's rocking chair, brought to New York City from Jamaica in the early 1900s.

In this episode

  • The rocking chair she almost threw away
  • The ordinary afternoon that changed how she saw everything she owned
  • What a heritage fragment actually is
  • Why you probably already have more heritage around you than you think
  • A simple starting point to find your own heritage fragments this week

Key takeaways

  1. You do not need the whole story to begin. A single object can be the starting point.
  2. Heritage Fragments are often things you already own and have stopped noticing.
  3. Not knowing the story behind something is a reason to ask, not a reason to let it go.
  4. This week: pick one object in your home that came from family and write down everything you know about it, and who might know more.

Chapters

  1. 00:00What's holding more of your story than you realize
  2. 1:37Feeling disconnected from her own roots
  3. 2:43The rocking chair and its history
  4. 4:26What a heritage fragment actually is
  5. 7:11This week's practice and sign-off
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