Imagine the following:
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.
As I sit here thinking about the three things I would bring my thought process goes from first not knowing where to begin and then quickly realizing that I have to narrow down my choices because I can only bring THREE items. My three items that I would want to take with me are:
1. My wedding ring – This is a strong representation of both faith and family…two of the most important things in my life.
2. Family photo album that would have pictures of our wedding, the birth of our children, family holidays and traditions captured, and numerous other pictures.
3. Documents – I would make sure that I had all of our birth certificates and social security cards to prove who we are and may need if we were to return to our country again.
Upon arrival to this new destination I am told that I can only keep one of these items. I would imagine that I would be devastated to have to leave behind even more of who I am, but I think I would choose to keep the photo album. Growing up I can remember spending many hours with both of my grandparents flipping through photo albums and listening to stories. I believe that so much can be learned about someone and their family culture through pictures. For me this family album would capture all those moments that could describe all those memories and family values that I could not replace.
Doing this assignment reaffirms the importance of both faith and family to me. My memories of sitting with family and looking at pictures and listening stories are ones that I will never forget. I hope to be able to one day sit with my children and their new families that they have started and flip through family photo albums and share stories that they can pass along too.
Emily,
ReplyDeleteIts tough to figure out what culture items one would take. It was especially hard for me because I do not feel like my family has a very deep/prominent culture or ties to our heritage. Family is very important to me as well. I cannot imagine giving up anything that links me to my family.
Emily-
ReplyDeleteMuch like you I did not know where to start. I have to admit I did not even think about birth certificates or social security card. That would be an important piece of documentation to have. Awesome posting.
Hi Emily I really loved your post because it was so warm and meaningful. Just like you I chose my three items were my pictures, important documets like birth certificate, i.d, social security cards, and medical history. when I moved to Florida I have never been in a Hurrican and I experienced my first one Hurrican Ivan and in school they told us the important items to take because like your pictures they are hard to rplace and important documents to prove who you are and where you from in case this building is destroyed. Great post.
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