Family Culture Items 

If my current country were devastated and I had to choose three items to take with me to represent my family culture, I would choose a guitar, a copy of GoldenEye (James Bond movie), and a dog collar.
I would take the guitar because I have grown up with music. My father plays the guitar, and I grew up singing with him in church. We still play occasionally and my husband joins in playing bass guitar.  Growing up, large family gatherings included guitar and piano playing with my aunts and cousins. We played and sang hymns and Christmas carols  We still love to play together but unfortunately, we are spread many miles apart in different states.

A representation of my father's guitar

I would take a copy of GoldenEye because it is the first James Bond film I saw, and I have been in love with Bond ever since. My children and I watch Bond movies together; my oldest and I have had Bond marathons on rainy Saturday. My oldest son, my husband, and I have seen all of the Bond films. I have seen all of them for the past twenty years on opening night in the theater. My boys will be old enough to accompany me to the next one in 2019.

                                                         

I would take a dog collar with all of my dog's tags on on it. I still have the tags from every dog I have ever had for the past 35 years. I have raised my children to love, respect, and appreciate dogs. Our dogs are a very important part of our lives. I would love to be able to take the dog, but given the catastrophic nature of this scenario that might not be a possibility.

My dog! He's much older now.

If I could only choose one of these items, It would be the dog collar. I have never been without a dog and neither have my children. My husband also spent a significant amount of his life with a dog in his home. I truly love animals and especially dogs.  We can not imagine our lives without a dog. The dog collar would serve as a reminder of our love and appreciation of dogs and all of the fun we have had with them, their loyalty, and unconditional love for their people. 

I found it very difficult to choose items to represent my whole family. There were plenty of items that represent each of us individually but not that many the represent us as a whole. We are relatively new as a family as my husband and I have only been married for 4 years. There are many items that he and I discussed that represent us as a couple. There are also many that represent my children and me as a single-parent family. I have older children who are establishing their own lives and independence. Our family culture is rapidly changing with jobs, school, children approaching college, driving, and high school coming to an end. 

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