My Family Culture

A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of your country. The emergency government has decided that the surviving citizens will be best served if they are evacuated to other countries willing to take refugees. You and your immediate family are among the survivors of this catastrophic event. However, you have absolutely no input into the final destination or in any other evacuation details. You are told that your host country’s culture is completely different from your own, and that you might have to stay there permanently. You are further told that, in addition to one change of clothes, you can only take 3 small items with you. You decide to take three items that you hold dear and that represent your family culture.

       I saw down to do this assignment about four days ago, but after reading the assignment, I knew I needed more time to think on it.  As I would go about my daily business, I would end up staring at things around my house, wondering if it would be an item I would grab in a situation like this. After a couple days of this, and my husband continuously asking if I was alright, I came up with three items that I believe represent me and my family culture. (For my own personal assumptions and to give me a peace of mind, I am going to assume my two dogs would be coming with me as I would have made each of them an item otherwise as they are basically my husband and I's children).

1. As a daughter to teenage parents, I quickly learned the value of a penny and the necessity of putting money into the needs and earning money for the wants. I believe it is this childhood that lead me to such trouble picking out materialistic items that represent who I, and my family culture, are. However, I do believe that I would bring along my old Teddy Bear I received when I turned 3. It was the only gift I received, yet she has traveled all over the country with me and has earned a spot in my guest bedroom's bed. Not only was she my comfort during long moves from base housing to base housing, but there is also part of her dress that was torn when my childhood dog decided to chew on a button. It is also the same tear the my angel of a grandmother sewed back for me. That bear represents a lot more than just the comfort of a stuffed animal, it represents history and was given to me at a time when my family had nothing; it seems fitting that this bear would be with me as our family was once again reduced to nothing in this scenario.

2. While I would like to say my second item would be a photo album, I could almost guarantee another member of my immediate family would grab the worn down one sitting at my parents house, meaning that I would still have access to old memories and the evolution of my small family. However, I would bring along a single picture that is currently on my fridge of myself and my brother and sister along with previously mentioned family dog. It reflects a time, and an age, in which I still remember my siblings. My brother with a bowl haircut and just a hint of a lisp, always making sure my sister and I were taken care of. My sister with her gorgeous blonde locks, so different from the red and brown siblings sitting near her, with a passion for pushing past boundaries to achieve her goal. And even myself, bangs included, with a comforting hand around my two younger siblings, as I grew up as a second mom since both my parents worked and attended school during the formative years. My siblings come before anything else in this world and this picture would give me the strength to keep going. 

3. For my final item, I believe I would pick a shirt that I received at the camp I met my husband at. Even though my family has lived all over the United States, each one of us has always been reserved in our ways, preferring the company of those closest to us, never reaching out past our comfort zones. I was no different, especially during my college years, I had a select group of friends and otherwise spent my time going to class, to the gym, and the library respectively. For whatever reason, my Sophomore year of college saw me in a Recreation and Leisure class that I was encouraged to drop by my advisor as my Recreation and Leisure major had been dropped at my university. Yet I still chose to stay in the class that started way after my other classes ended and was on the other side of the campus. It was through this class that I learned about a camp called Camp Twin Lakes that services a range of differently-abled children and adults. Through the extensive list of different camps that attend during the summer, Camp Oo-U-La stuck out to me because of the unique name. I ended up applying for the camp that serviced children who were burn survivors to attend that summer with no previous experience nor affiliations with the camp. It was within the first few days of attending the camp that I found my passion for working with children and fell in love with a camper-turned-counselor burn survivor who made me laugh till I cried. Taking along one of the many shirts I have received from this camp through my following years of volunteering, would take me back to a time where I felt vulnerable, only to be received with a new passion and even a best friend/partner in crime. During this who scenario, this shirt would remind me that sometimes we all feel uncomfortable or vulnerable, yet the more we push past these feelings, something beautiful awaits us at the end. 

          After finding it increasingly hard to pick three items that represented me and my culture, it became even harder to choose just one item after listing out what each one meant to me. I believe the picture of myself and my siblings would take precedence. It is a picture that has traveled with me to different countries, different houses, through different life scenarios, and every time, it has given me strength. I believe in this refugee scenario, the best thing someone can have is strength and a reason to keep going. I find that true in everyday life as well. We must all have something to keep fighting for.