What Is My Family Heritage Essay

If I have learned anything about history, it is that not everyone has the pleasure of knowing their story or past glory. Archived memories and experiences create scenes of the past that we can feel and relive if told in the right light. Family is an important treasure that only some get the privilege of cherishing; blood or bond, family is what holds us when the world lets us go. Going back to the day my grandmother was born, it began the lives of the people I know and love today and has shaped the way we behold and appreciate one another in the present and future. My family history is based on the retrieval of past memories, the struggle for self-preservation and the gravity of connectedness in family relationships.
My grandmother Callie Donia …show more content…
Their early childhood was a struggle due to their mothers taxing work schedule, low income, and the poor Los Angeles demographic. Every 23rd of the month they were prone to running out of food until their mother could provide; but it was never enough. My mother Rosalyn and Aunt Rhonda were both on the straight and narrow while six of their siblings got caught in the riptide of drugs and alcohol. During the more cumulative years of the War On Drugs movement, six of my mothers sisters died of overdoses. The stress and childhood trauma caused a wave of grief to wash over them, their remaining siblings, and most of all, their mother. They did everything they could to become the cornerstone of prosperity for their mother and themselves as well as making school and education a top priority. During their teenage years, they continued to flourish like flowers in desertous conditions, so the incline was steep and turbulent. Soon my mother and Aunt graduated from Dolores High School in the year 1986. My aunt Rhonda earned a scholarship to attend UC Santa Barbara for Political Science and my mother attended the Los Angeles Trade Tech School of Fashion Design and Hairstyling. It was a tremendous achievement for them both to attend higher learning institutions; they were both first generation students who had made it out. During my mother’s first year of Trade Tech School, she met a man named Kesley …show more content…
Therefore, since my mothers side of the family is the one who is most in touch, every holiday calls for a necessary and much anticipated get-together. Being that my family and I live in the valley and the rest of my mother’s family resides in Los Angeles, it is always a lengthy commute to and from upon visiting, but it is definitely always worth it in the end. My mother has always made it a priority to keep family close because of all the losses she has endured, and so my sisters and I have been instilled with a remarkable sense of family values and what it means to love another human-being. I feel as though the history of our ancestors has sculpted our family units dating back to the 1900s when blacks began the search for their loved ones after enslavement. Considering that it was so difficult to reconnect with their own flesh and blood, I can confidently say that my family unit is as close as can be. Collectively we have become extremely cautious of any outside forces that try to break us apart. We talk as a family, travel as a family, eat as a family and bond as a family; my family is a treasure I will always guard, cherish and never take for granted. For the specific purpose of coming together and honoring our past, my family meets with extended family in Los