My Family Culture

As I 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.

The three items I would take are a family photo album that contained pictures of my husband’s and my childhood, our wedding and of our three children growing up. I would take the Bible I received at my first Women’s Cornerstone retreat. The third thing I would take is the love letter my husband wrote to me when he proposed; yes I have the proposal in writing.

I chose these items after much thought because as I consider not only my families culture but, also the culture of the United States and then contemplate the world of possibilities where my family may wind up living that do not have the same religious freedoms or rights for women, I wanted to have things that would remind me of those freedoms and rights.

I would tell others that the photo albums contained pictures of what our lives were like and how American culture has changed over the years. The photos are a timeline of our growth as a family. I would explain that I wanted the Bible because I am not sure that the country I am going to will have one or be English speaking and my faith and the ability to read God’s word is important to me and my family. I will need my faith to keep me centered as I struggle to learn a new language and customs. Food may actually be my biggest challenge.  Lastly, my husband’s loving words to me as he asked me to marry him showed how much he cared for and honored me as a person. It is my representation of his and my value of respect for women.

If upon arrival I was told that I could only keep one personal item and I would have to give up the rest I would be frustrated by having to make a choice, narrowing my possessions once again. I am hoping that I would be persuasive enough to be able to keep them all or at least tuck the letter and a few pictures into my Bible.

I found this exercise challenging, at first I could think of nothing I wanted to bring. As long as I had my immediate family nothing else would matter to me. I may have been overwhelmed by all the possibilities. Family rosaries, baby books, grandparent’s passports and children’s art work to name a few. Possessions are not my priority, I carry the people I love and memories of those I have lost in my heart. How I treat others and how I want to be treated cannot be represented in objects. I believe the items that I have chosen would convey what I want those that I meet about my family’s culture. Our culture is more about respect for each other and those we interact with than anything else.