When a little girl visits her great-grandfather, she asks about the collection of matchboxes harbouring objects she can hold in her hand, each one evoking a memory. Together they tell of his journey from Italy to a new country before he could read and write: the olive pit his mother gave him to suck on when there wasn't enough food, a bottle cap he saw on his way to the boat, a ticket still retaining the thrill of his first baseball game.