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.
It would be very difficult for me to choose
only three items because I have so many items that I hold dear to my heart and
that represent my family culture. But if I had to choose, the first would be my
mother’s silver jewelry box that she bought for me when I was a little girl.
This oval shaped jewelry box has my initials carved in it. She gave this
jewelry box to me when I graduated from kindergarten. I have been continuing
this tradition with my two daughters. The second item would be my huge photo
album with all of my family portraits. This photo album is filled with portraits
of my husband, children, mother, siblings, grandparents, nieces, nephews,
in-laws, cousins, close friends; basically my entire family. This photo album
is filled with people of different races. I have photos of us together at
weddings, parties, reunions, baptisms, anniversaries, and many other
occasions. The third item would be the
cherry wood cedar chest that my grandmother left to me before she passed away.
This cedar chest has been in our family for over 100 years. She left it to me
because it was always my hiding place when we played hide and seek together. It
is now filled with a lot of my grandmother’s personal belonging.
If I was told upon arrival that I could only
keep one of the three items that I brought with me and give up the other two, I
would be devastated because each of these items means so much to me. It would
be very difficult for me to choose because I have been collecting these photos
of my family for a very long time and on special occasions I always put
together a slideshow of the different photos. The jewelry box that I have is 30
years old now and I can’t see myself forever departing from it. My cedar chest is
like a treasure box to me because of all the items I have stored in it of my
grandmother’s.
As a result of this exercise, I had a talk
with my mother about our family. I learned that my great great great grandfather
had to leave his wife and children behind in another country so she could do
better for his family. I have learned that my family was and is filled with
influential people who have had many successful opportunities. I also know that
since I have been associating myself with people of different cultures, I have
learned a tremendous amount about their cultures. 
Hi La Shaunda ,
ReplyDeleteI agree with I would had not give up cedar chest grandmother gave you . That hold so much of your family history and you could pass it on to your daughters. That remind me of when my grandmother when she died the last thing she gave me for Christmas was a blanket. My grandmother has been gone for sixteen years and still have that blanket to keep me warm. I enjoy reading your blog. thank you Raejean
I found this week’s task very emotional. So many refugees around the world have been forced to flee their countries due to war, political strife, natural disasters etc. Even communities in the United States have been forced to uproot themselves and start over because of destruction. I have watched these incidents on the news and have even wept for the people faced with devastation, but never took a minute to reflect and put myself in their shoes. I found it very difficult to think about and narrow down my cultural identity to three small items. I found it even more difficult to imagine being asked to narrow it down to just one. Although I found this task very difficult, it was very meaningful and opened my eyes to all of the families who are faced with devastation and now feel disconnected from their cultural because they have been displaced. Thanks so much for your discussion this week, it is obvious that you also found this task both challenging and yet rewarding! It is so great that it led to very meaningful conversations with your family members to learn more about your culture and heritage.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Rhiannon
Hello,
ReplyDeleteWe both share similar items. I also chose a piece of jewelry that holds alot of significance to me. This assignment has allowed me also to do research on my culture. Thanks for sharing :-)