Our Family’s Culture

Regarding our childhoods, whether an only child, one of many, wanted, adopted, abused, or abandoned our childhoods shaped us. During our formative years, beginning in infancy and ending when we finally flew the coop, our lives took a particular shape based on our family’s culture. 

Culture, in its simplest definition, is the training and the development of the mind. 

While growing up, we were all instilled with beliefs, ideas, points of view, and ideology brought to us by our parents whose parents had influenced them, whose parents had also influenced them. 

Every generation of every family has been impacted by its family members. For instance, my great-grandmother, grandma, mother and I were all raised under the tenets of the Catholic Church. With each generation though, those principles grew a little dimmer. So that by the time I was in high school, I no longer attended Sunday Mass, prayed the rosary, or went to confession. Yet, those principles, ideas, and precepts were not for naught. They instilled in me a foundation for my present faith. 

But the culture of  any family is not limited to just the members of that family. Society also makes its inroads into the family. For instance the influence of the television did not affect my great-grandmother, grandma, or mother. They did not grow up with it. But I did. 

I remember the time our whole family sat in the living room watching the Ed Sullivan Show. The Beatles were debuting. My middle sister was entirely and thoroughly smitten by them. My father, on the other hand, was entirely and totally disgusted by them. He commented on the fact that their hair was too long.

But, in a rather short amount of time, the sister who’d been smitten by the Beatles began listening to their records, dancing in a weird way, and wearing red go-go boots. 

The culture of pop music was now mixing with the fairly straight and narrow culture of our family. Though the culture of the day found its way into my sister’s life, it did not wipe out our family’s culture of maintaining good manners, respecting your elders and remembering to share.

Why Bother?

Why bother taking note of family culture? Every family has a unique culture that leaves a lasting imprint on our lives. Good imprints are worth keeping.

P.S.  I wrote the story of my journey to forgiveness for those who need clarity when it comes to understanding forgiveness. You can find A Heart’s Journey To Forgiveness at Redemption Press and Amazon.