Nicole Tucker
Bonnie Moore
English 2010
24 April 2014
Tucker
Swag
When
you think of a typical family vacation you picture a mom, dad, and children
walking down Main Street, USA in the Disney Land Resort or a family of five boarding
a cruise boat. For spending quality time
together, you imagine families going on picnics, family walks, or boating trips. Family traditions are pictures as a fancy
Christmas Eve dinner and hanging up the stockings above the fireplace. What you don’t think of as a family vacation
is spending a week in a farmhouse on the outskirts of Boise, Idaho. Jamming out, making a funny video to a Katy
Perry song is a little out of the norm when it comes to family bonding. Christmas traditions don’t normally include
back scratches before presents can be opened.
Through the cultural artifacts I have collected this year it is obvious
my family has some odd quirks. We may
not bond in the typical family way but we still have strong ties rooting from
our family legacy and current family memories.
The
Tucker and Johansen families carry great legacy. While gathering family stories for the
legend, recipe, and four-generation chart Cultural Artifacts, my mom and I
found fascinating information and stories about many of our ancestors. I was mesmerized by the strength and courage
they had to pack up, leave life as they knew it in Europe, and move to
America. Many of them made the journey
due to their newfound faith in the Mormon church. They were voyagers; they were truth
seekers. All of their stories collided
here in the state of Utah and now two or three generations later, my siblings
and I grew up strong in their same faith, which has been inherited from their
steadfastness in living what they believe.
It was because of my ancestor’s diligence, hard work, and loyalty to
their families and their faith that my immediate family today has something to
hold onto when times get rough.
Quirky
bonding moments and random inside jokes are the family memories I hold close. From our family vacation in Boise, Idaho to
our very odd Christmas morning tradition of back scratching, it’s the abnormal
characteristics of my family that stand out to me. It’s the funny voice my dad uses when he’s in
his joking mood or the way my little sisters imitate it by exaggerating his
mannerisms. It’s the stark personality
differences of my two older brothers and their equally wonderful wife additions
to our family. It’s the undying love and
care our moma bear has for all of us. All
five of my siblings and I currently attend different schools. Oak Canyon Jr. High, Pleasant Grove High
School, Utah State University, Brigham Young University, and Eastern Oregon
University all have one thing in common: they are educating some of the
greatest people I know. Despite our
distances, we bond through iPhone group messages with emoji wars, tweeting at
each other, and making it onto each other’s snapchat “best friend” list. We even have our own hashtag we use to
specifically label the tweets and instagram posts devoted to our family.
Through
gathering the cultural artifacts over the course of the semester, I have
enjoyed learning and reflecting about my ancestral, extended, and immediate
family. Some of the artifacts may have
caused surprise or given a good laugh because of their aberrant quality but
they are true and they are a part of my family legacy.
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