Perspectives on Diversity and Equity

Blog Assignment Week 2

My Family Culture

The three things that I would take with me are

• ·      a small family photo album- contains photos of my children when they were young  and photos of other family members taken on significant occasions such as wedding photos.
• ·      a cross and chain –very simple silver chain with small, ornate silver and gold cross
• ·      wedding ring- gold, antique-look wedding band and a solitaire diamond that was my grandmother’s diamond.

The reason that I chose the photo album seems self-explanatory.  It would be important for me to have images of those to whom I am most connected or who played some important role in my family’s history.  I chose the cross and chain because this is a symbol of my Catholic faith.  It is something that reminds me of how I should behave, what my worldview should be and provides me with hope and comfort when I wear it.  I chose the wedding ring because for me, it symbolizes the bond that I have with my husband and my own adult family.  It also reminds me of my grandmother for whom I have fond memories and great respect, since it contains the diamond from her wedding ring.  It is also something that I could pass down to my own children.  

Choosing only one of these items would prove very difficult since they are all very precious to me.  I think that I could somehow fashion a small cross that could take the place of the cross and chain.  If I found that I could only keep one item, I would most likely be the photo album.  Having family photos would be important especially if this scenario involved being separated from family members.  This is also an item that I would be very interested in passing on to my own children.

This exercise gave me the chance to reflect on what I value and the connection between what I value and my family culture.  As Harris (2008) explains religious beliefs are a social factor that shape families.  The choice of the cross and chain is related to my Catholic upbringing and my own choice of religion as an adult.  The choice of the wedding ring and the photo album seem related to the concept of boundaries described by Christian (2006) who explains that in an enmeshed family,  “the individual’s identity is very much tied to the family” (p. 14).  I think my choices also reflect the family-oriented, traditional and conservative aspects of my family culture.  It will be interesting to read other postings to see what items others chose.  I would assume that most people would chose family photos, but I also realize that this assumption is based on my own experience and family culture.   

I think that I will learn as much about myself, my family culture and diversity from reading the other blogs as I did from doing this assignment. 

Reference:

Christian, L. G. (2006). Understanding families: applying family systems theory to early childhood practices theory. Young Children, 61(1), 12-20.  Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/docview/197591231

Harris, S. R. (2008). What is family diversity? Objective and interpretive approaches. Journal of Family Issues, 29(11), 1407–1417.
  Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/USW1/201360_04/MS_MECS/EDUC_6164/Week%202/Resources/Resources/embedded/Harris2008.pdf