First Artifact: My Violin
This artifact represents many characteristics about mine and my family's culture. First of all, I have been involved in learning to play music since I was about 8 years old. I started with the piano and then began learning to play the violin when I was about 11 years old. Being the oldest, while pursuing my talents in music, I somewhat set the musical trend for my siblings. My youngest sister, Alyssa, also learned to play the piano, the violin, and now the guitar. Sarah, my other little sister, just older than Alyssa, learned to play piano, too, in addition to the flute. Parker, my brother only eighteen months younger than me, started piano, but did not pursue it much after the first two years. However, he still took to music just as strongly by being the record-setter song collector in our family collecting hundreds and hundreds of songs in many varieties to his I-Pod. To this day he says that music is the one thing in this world that he loves the most, besides his family of course. :)
Because of our musical talents, my sisters and I have always been, and continue to be, regulars in our family and ward's musical numbers as well as faithful ward choir members ever since we could carry a tune.
And if this is not enough music to swallow, ever since I can remember my dad and his brother Jonathan have always assumed the unofficial roles in every family gathering as the family DJs. They were always mixing a new CD, discussing a new artist, song, soundtrack, etc. I owe my contemporary musical knowledge and appreciation to them. Among my friends I have always had a slight edge against them in being familiar with the good old classics. All because of my dad.
Second Artifact: A Classic Film
My family and I have always been major movie buffs. At least, to us, we feel like we know a lot about movies. To any other American family, we probably aren't that knowledgeable. Movie going and movie watching are very popular cultural activities in America so everybody probably thinks that they know everything about movies. Nevertheless, apart from traditional family vacations, movie watching and reminiscing are probably the top two regular family bonding activities that I have experienced throughout my life. Because of this I have really learned to love movies and respect the movie making process.
My brother and I always had this game that we would play in the car during long drives. We called it "Movies and Guessing." The name pretty much speaks for itself, but basically, one person would recite a line from a movie and the others would have to guess the movie it came from. This would go on forever. We loved to try to stump each other by picking the most random and insignificant lines that we could remember so that no body could guess our movie.
Third Artifact: Good Food (imagine your favorite meal :D )
For as long as I can remember family get togethers were always about the food. Maybe it was because my mom had an important role in helping out my grandmas and aunts with the meals, but our lives always evolved around the meals. At least, this is the way it was every time we would get together with the extended family. The "food" issue was always more pressing with my dad's side of the family because my Grammy was always very concerned that we had what we needed to feed everyone. It was never near as pressing on my mom's side. Nevertheless, the food was always amazing. Especially my Grammy's food. That woman new how to cook. And she always made sure that everything was cooked just right. It was a great strength of hers, but I know that it drove my mom nuts sometimes. Anyway, good food has always been a great cultural importance to me and my family. Without fail, nearly ever Sunday afternoon was spent gathered around the kitchen table enjoying a wonderful meal that my mother had prepared. Now that I am older I can see why this was so important. It brought us together. It gave us chances to talk to each other while enjoying ourselves. Without these special times I know that my family would not be near as close as we are now.
Fourth Artifact: The Standard Works
(If you cannot read that it reads: Holy Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
The gospel of Jesus Christ has always been an important cultural artifact in my family. Not only because our family line consists of a long line of covenant-born members until the pioneer times, but also because we have been fortunate enough to be related to some great spiritual examples. On my dad's side, the Richards side, we are descendants of great church leaders like Willard Richards, LeGrande Richards, and Lynn Richards. This heritage, I think, has always pushed us to try a little harder and follow their examples. Part of this effort has translated into many spiritual firesides, conducted by my Grandad, together at the end of a good meal. :) It is because of this that I have come to appreciate and internalize the gospel a little bit more in my life.
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