Saturday, July 13, 2013

My Family Culture


*       If I had to leave this country after a major catastrophe and I had to only take three small items with me that represent my culture I would take my Holy Bible, a family photo album and my smart phone.  The holy bible to me is my foundation in which I try to live by.  Its something  that my culture has strongly abided by for generations and having my personal bible with me which contain notes and highlighted scriptures could really help to get me through what I think would be a difficult adjustment.  My family photo album is has pictures of past and present family members.  My family is very big on pictures and when where together we take a lot of photos.  Having the album with me will help me to remember those that are not with me and even have picture to pass down to my children of family members.  I would take my smart phone because it contains a lot of information about my family.  Email address, contact information, pictures and if there is internet connection I can stay connected by social media, text and email.       

*       Upon arrival to this country I were  told  that I could only keep one personal item and would have to give up the other two items I brought with me I would choose to keep my family photo album or my smart phone.  This one was hard for me to answer because if I was allowed to use my phone to take pictures of photos from the album I would keep the phone.  If I wasn’t allowed to take the pictures I might take the photo album. ( this was a hard one for me)

Doing this assignment really got me to thinking about my family culture and how much they mean to me.  I value my relationships with my family and culture and would hate to have it all taken away from me due to any devastation.  This also got me to thinking about the many families who had to leave their families and homes during hurricane Katrina.  Until I had to think and answer these questions it got me to thinking about how hard it was for them and my heart goes out to them all over again.  This has made me more aware of the things I value most (family and culture) can be taken away.  If I ever had to go anywhere in this world would others understand me and my culture? 

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5 comments:

  1. I chose the same things as you for much of the same reason. I found it hard to pick things because what I value about my family culture is not the stuff but the people, the relationships and my values and beliefs. Thank you for your post. I look forward to reading more of your blog throughout the course.

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  2. Tawanda,
    My late father in-law had his big bible on the dining table all the time and I would see him writing things in it. One day I got curious and opened it up to read from it and I found on certain pages special events such as the birth of our first son recorded with the exact time on one of the page and our marriage date and photos. That bible still sits on his widow's table with pictures of families and the notes he wrote. I love that bible and I often get a chance to look at it when I visit her. I would love to add that bible on to my list to take with me :) Choosing to keep only one item is difficult to decide and I like how you decided to keep photos of love ones. I would definitely choose that too, but have to think twice about the sentimental value of my chosen item made exclusively by my mother's hand.

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  3. Hi Tawanda,

    I chose my bible and family photos as well! Tawanda I must admit I chuckled a little when you said you would take your smart phone. I also feel like my bible is a very big part of my culture. My grandmother was the person who taught us the importance of a real relationship with God, and my relationship with God has been a big part of my life. Thank You for sharing

    Magretta

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  4. Tawanda,
    I also chose my phone and a piece of my spirituality, a rosary. My phone not only has my family pictures but it keeps me connected to the rest of the world. Choosing between the three items was very difficult for me as well. I ended up choosing the rosary because I believe that God always finds a way to embellish my life so I kept the one thing that would remind me of that.
    Annie P.

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  5. Hi Tawanda,

    I chose my computer because, like you, it holds a lot of pictures, contact information and social media sites that I could access to keep in touch with my family and friends. It did not dawn on me until I read your posting that I'm not sure what we as a society would do without our connection to thinks like the internet or social media sites. I hate to admit it, but I do not even know my own mother's phone number by memory. If there was an emergency, and my phone did not work, I have no idea what I would do. Makes ya think!
    -Beau

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