My Family Culture

      Three items that I would choose in the event of an emergency are my Bible, my family photo album, and a family quilt. I would choose the Bible, because it is a major part of who I am, how I was raised, and how I want my children to be raised. My faith, religion, and culture come from God and His blessings in my life. I feel it is important to teach my children and others about God’s promises and His word. I would take my family photo album, because there are numerous pictures of relatives and important events in the photo album. I feel these pictures help explain who we are based on our past and our family’s past. The photos capture memories of relatives who are no longer living so that we can share stories about them with our children. The photos also capture memories of births, birthdays, holidays, vacations, and other special events that explain who we are as a family and our culture. The third item I would take is a quilt that my mother-in-law hand made and then gave to my husband. This quilt is compiled of 12 different squares. She created this quilt where every square is a scene and tells a story about her family and childhood. For example, one of the squares on the quilt is a scene from her childhood where she attended a small country church.  Below each square is a sewn description that explains the scene such as who is involved and where it took place. I want to pass this quilt on to my children because it captures who their grandmother is and has memories about family we never knew. It helps explain how and where she grew up. It is a beautiful quilt that demonstrates her talent and is part of my family's culture.

      If upon arrival I was told I could only keep one of these three items, then I would feel as if they were taking part of my culture  away from me. I would feel that they did not value who I was or my family culture. It would be very difficult to pick only one item and leave the other things behind.

      The insight I gained from this exercise is that my values, beliefs, and family are very important to me. I thought it was difficult to only choose three items to take with me to represent my family culture. There are other items that I feel are important and I hope never to be put in that position. Things that I feel are most important are things that capture memories from the past and describe who we are as a family. I would choose items that helped explain to others who I am, who my family is and was. We all take pride in sharing with others about our family and culture, because they make up who we are.