My Family Culture

If I were to be evacuated to another country and I could only take three items with me that would be tough. I really do not have too many "things" that would represent my culture that I would find important enough to take.

Most of the things that I hold dear are not physical things, but traditions, my beliefs, practices and my religion. They are with you no matter where you are. One of the most important things to me would be my family, and they would already be going with me. So, if I had to choose 3 things I would choose my Bible, extended/current family pictures, and a cross necklace that my husband got me. I really do not have anything from my mother or extended family that has been passed down.

My Bible would be important to me because it is apart of my heritage and it would be important for me to pass that on to my children. My Great Grandparents came to the United States as Russian/Mennonite immigrants looking for Religious/political freedom. My grandfather was a Mennonite but he married my grandma who was not apart of the society that he grew up in, so that generation is basically where the way of life started to die off. Most of the traditions got lost because my grandmother refused to learn the German language so my mother was only taught a few words from her father. We still have some of the traditional foods on the holidays but that is mostly as far as it goes.

The pictures speak for themselves because I would want to remember the faces and have memories of my family and the things we did together. The necklace would be important because it was a special gift and it represents two relationships that are important to me.

If I were told I could only keep one item It would make me feel like a part of my only heritage was being stripped away. It would be difficult to leave two of the items but I would definitely keep the Bible because it means the most to me.

Insights I have gained about myself include realizing that my family culture is less about "things" and more about what I stand for and believe about my heritage. These are the things that I pass on to my children and they can not be taken away. I also found out that my family culture is not that strong in passing down tangible items but the focus is more on tradition and spiritual aspects. I have also learned how difficult and scary it must be for families who are here as first generation immigrants. They should be able to hang on to their culture of origin.