Reflective Essay: The Influences Of My Cultural Heritage

My cultural heritage has influenced, shaped, and defined my life in many ways. My heritage resonates as mostly an Italian background, since both sides of my grandparent’s ancestry traces back to Italy. That cultural heritage can be exemplified in holidays and gatherings, traditions, and is evident in the close relationship that my family shares with each other. The Italian culture is best known for their love of food, and making family an extremely important value. Also, Italians are well known for treating the extended family just as they would immediate family: inviting everyone to social gatherings and loving having everyone together. Any opportunity to get everyone together is always seized and ranges from any type of event, holiday, or …show more content…
Having a close bond between the members in your family is something I see as one of the most important factors in life. Apart from the evident factors that your parents provide for you, the extended family is just as beneficial and necessary. My cousins, for example, are like my siblings. I have noticed that this plays an important role in my life, especially as I get older. We were always together as kids, since my mom has a close-knit relationship with both of her sisters. They even call each other every night, just to talk about random things or what took place that day! Because of this tight bond, my cousins and I would spend almost every Saturday together. Even after an entire day with each other, we would still beg our parents to let us all have a sleepover that night. Some of my most treasured memories as a kid are centered around how much fun we would all have, spending hours at a time playing games and hanging out. That alone is what I am most grateful for when looking at my cultural heritage and how I was brought up as a kid: the importance of family and how close we are with each