Three objects

If there was a catastrophic event and I could only bring three objects with me to my new destination, I would bring my wedding and engagement rings, a dolphin figurine my mother gave me, and a glass Ball jar from the 1950's that my father-in-law gave me. These items are representative of my culture because each of them has a significant meaning to my past and my life.  The first item, my wedding rings, mean a lot to me because they represent the promise that my husband and I made to one another and they identify him as one of the most significant and supportive people in my life. These rings are important to me because they help me remember that I am supported and loved. Culturally, they represent my ideals about marriage and living a life together with a partner. Second, the dolphin my mom gave me, represents the love as a family we have for each other. For some reason, when I was very young, my mom (who is not my biological mom) began using dolphins to symbolize our family of two. We had pictures of two dolphins together a lot and we also had figures of two dolphins together. To her, these statues and photographs represented her and I. If I had to guess, I would guess that the dolphin is symbolic of swimming together and valuing intelligence and serenity for her, and this is how I would explain it to someone. Finally, the Ball jar that my father-in-law gave me represents the only family history I identify with, which is the history of my husband's family. As an adopted child, I never truly identified with either of my families until I was married, and then I aligned myself closely with my in-laws. The Ball jar was found by my father-in-law underneath the foundation of their house, and it is suspected that it was used for canning by my husband's relatives. It reminds me that my husband's family were farmers and worked hard for their food and living and that they were determined laborers. These three items are truly representative of my family's culture.

To be honest, I have never been a materialistic person, and if I was told that I could only keep one item, I would not be very upset. I would choose to keep my wedding/engagement rings and get rid of the jar and the dolphin. What is important to me is that my children hear the stories of their family rather than have concrete objects to remind them of their heritage. Since my heritage and culture is different from that of my birth family and my adoptive family, it is not very upsetting to me to lose touch with the objects that represent my own culture. I am satisfied with having memories of these objects instead, but I do understand how upsetting it might be to someone who held a strong attachment to objects to be told that they could not keep them.

This assignment has really made me aware of cultural differences. I suspect that many of my colleagues have items from their family's histories that they would choose to bring with them, and this highlights the diversity that is seen among even citizens of the same nation. While objects are not important to my cultural perspective, I do recognize the importance of objects to other people. I also remember looking at an article with pictures of Syrian refugees' belongings; many of these people carried only a backpack with toiletries inside to help them journey from  Syria to their destinations. I do not remember the location of this article, but if I find it, I will definitely post it to our doc sharing board. I do not think that many of these refugees carried with them cultural objects, but rather survivalist essentials.