Three Items that Represent My Family Culture

Backstory:  

A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of my 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. My immediate family and I are among the survivors of this catastrophic event. However, I have absolutely no input into the final destination or in any other evacuation details. I am told that my host country’s culture is completely different from my own, and that I might have to stay there permanently. In addition to one change of clothes, I can only take 3 small items with me. I decide to take three items that you hold dear and that represent your family culture.

My three items:  

My son's ring of tournament soccer patches from the past five years

My box of marathon, half marathon and 5k race medals

My grandfather's watch

Explanation of how these items represent family culture:

Soccer Patches:  My son plays travel soccer.  For the past five years our family has invested a lot of time, money and hard work into his soccer career.  It has become more than just a game, it has become a family tradition.  Each year my son Luke, myself and my parents attend his games and his tournaments all over Pennsylvania and Maryland.  Every time Luke plays in a tournament his team trades patches with the team they play, despite whether they win or lose.  After five years of tournaments in the fall and spring, Luke has quite a big ring of patches. The patches represent how our family spends time together through sports.

Race medals:  Over the past 18 years I have run one full marathon, three half marathons and several 5K events.  With the support of my family, I was able to spend long areas training for these athletic events.  The medals from these events represent the dedication, hard work and commitment not only from me but also of my family as well. We are a sports loving family who loves to play sports as much as we love to watch and support them. 

Watch:  My family is a very close knit family who lives close.  As a child I was lucky enough to have my grandparents live down at the bottom of the hill from my house.  I was able to stop and see both my grandfather and grandmother everyday after school when I got off the bus.  I also remember my grandparents coming up frequently to visit us after dinner. My entire family would have holiday dinners there as well as many non holiday dinners.  My grandfather always wore this watch.  This watch represents the time spent with my entire family as a grandchild, a niece, a daughter and a mother. 

I imagine that if I was in another country with a culture completely different from my own, I would have to "act out" or "draw out" with gestures and sketches what each item represents if this country had a language other than my own. 

If I were asked to keep only one item I am not exactly sure how I would feel.  Honestly, I would not even be sure which item I would keep.  I would probably keep my son's ring of patches because it is what I feel connected to the most, since we are still in the soccer season and still playing tournaments even in the colder days of November. I can only imagine that if I was asked to give up the other two items I would feel like I was giving up a part of myself, a part of my history and who I was.  I know I would always have my memories, but often item tell a story about a family whose family members may or may not be around anymore. I would feel that the only things I had left that represented my way of life and my culture in my old country were not respected or valued by those in my new country.  It would be as if they did not want to have or learn about new cultures in their country. 

Although I have no real experiences being a new culture in a place where other cultures were already established; I can easily see how hard it would be for someone to feel welcomed and respected in a new area where people were much different.  I can see how those who are part of the established culture need to work hard at welcoming those who are new as well as being open to learning about the cultures of those people.  New families should feel included and important even if they are different.