My Family Culture

 

            If I had to leave the country and take three items with me, I would grab my favorite stuffed animal, my favorite book, and my favorite movie. While these three items seem rather typical, they each have a special meaning to me especially in regard to my family culture.

            The stuffed animal I would take with me I’ve had since I was born. It was something that was given to me by my grandfather as his way of welcoming me into the world as his first grandchild. That lamb has been with me through every large event in my life and I don’t foresee that changing ever. Its one of the very few things I still have that remind me of my grandfather and makes me feel connected to him when I’m feeling lost. Family means a great deal to me and to my family as a whole. We’ve always been very close knit and the lamb symbolizes that to me.

            My favorite book, while having entertainment value, would be something I would bring with me because reading has always been a big thing with my family. My grandmother and mother are huge readers as was my maternal uncle. Because of this, I found a love of reading at a young age. Reading has helped me through a lot over the years and it connects me to my family as something we’ve always shared as a hobby.

            Lastly, my favorite movie is also something entertaining while holding family value. Movie nights were once a huge thing with my family and while we don’t always have time for them these days, the tradition has been something I’ve kept up with my friends who are just found family. Sharing a movie with people can help find a common ground as well, knowing whether they like that genre or not. It can open up a conversation and when moving into a new area, finding activities to do with others is very helpful.

            As long as I could keep my stuffed lamb, I think I would be okay. There is nothing that says I wouldn’t be able to find the book and movie again or that I wouldn’t find others to possible replace them. My lamb is nonnegotiable though because it symbolizes so many different things to me.

            I would say that this assignment has allowed me to note just how much family means to me. I always knew it was important, from the way I grew up and the way I’ve interacted with them, but this assignment really shed light on that fact. I know a lot of places around the world have different ways of interacting with their families and have different norms for how kids go about helping/leaving their parents when the time comes. But I think the fact that families have a big impact in every culture, it’s a common ground for people.