I continue to stare into the mirror. I see a messy room, clothes in an organized chaos. Books filling every inch of the bookcase. A squirrel perched on the trunk of a tree outside the window to a backdrop of cloudy skies.
My mirror reflects the familial influences I have. It reveals traditions, music, and games. I see my Grandma Weaver running around the kitchen making dinner, three steaming pans on the stove in a delicate harmony on their way to perfection. I see my cousins gathered around the table playing cards flashing green, red, blue, and yellow. I see my dad coaching a soccer team; all running around like a bunch of bumblebees. I see myself as the goalie that has the biggest pile of green grass at my feet.
I see the mile long line at the chief, with a different flavor of the week every week. I see my friends hanging out, running around and playing games in a large backyard.
As I look deeper, the boundaries melt away and time blends. I see the ebb and flow of the tide in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. I see the legacy of my ancestors. The flowing, sophisticated French language. The classical music that came out of Germany. The smooth, milky chocolate that the Swiss are excellent at making to this day.
I look deeper and to see the literary contributions of my culture. As I look closer I find it harder to define the contributions of my culture, is my culture any American writer or those with the same European background that I have. The fantastical writings of J.K. Rowling. Shel Silvertstein and his funky and relatable poetry. The wit and timelessness presented by Jane Austen.
I look into the mirror and see more than just my reflection. I see that I am more than just my brown hair, blue-green eyes, and white skin. The mirror shows me as a part of a rich tapestry that has been woven together incorporating the cultures I came from and the culture that I am a part of. Wherever I go I can find a connection with who I am: European, American, Caucasian. As the person in the mirror changes as the years pass, the will always be an essence of my self reflected back.
I like your reflection piece. I like the way you touch on different aspects of your life. You touch on your appearance, you immediate surroundings of your college room, your surroundings in the college town of Goshen, then you even go beyond and discuss writers and ancestors. I like the way you pulled all these things together.
ReplyDeleteI like the fact that you acknowledge the fact that you are European American. I feel like many times, after families have been here for generations, the younger generations tend to forget that their ancestors immigrated to the United States. There are not many people who can say they are native to the United States. But, many people forget this and claim it as their own. I think it is very important to remember our heritage and where we came from.
Lynn,
ReplyDeleteYour references to the place you grow up were great, especially because I could relate to them... the always-long lines at the Chief are definitely a sign of my summers growing up too. Your images of your soccer team as bumblebees and cousins playing cards--which I can only assume is Dutch Blitz--we are really familiar to me. Your descriptions of those painted great images in my head.
I also really liked that the literature that was important to you was stuff like Shel Silverstein's poetry and JK Rowling... definitely things that are unique to our generation. And so so so so good.
This came a long way from the first draft that you shared with our group in class. So much more optimism! :)
Lynn, you did a great job of incorporating details in this piece. I loved the glimpses of your Grandma Weaver cooking, of your cousins playing cards, and of your career as a goalie. You raise a good question as to what literature you can claim as part of your heritage--I'd say you can make that as wide as what you want to claim. Our genetics may be confined to our blood line, but our reading is potentially much more diverse. I'm not African American, but the novels of Toni Morrison are definitely a part of who I am as an American and a reader and a scholar.
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