It is not new to us to know that any family has its own traditions which are based on some values and beliefs because heritage is something that has a direct relation to our past ancestors. Family heritage reflects past experiences, practices, and traditions that are passed on from parents to their children. The following are some of the things that our family had acquired from our previous generations.
Praying
The practice of praying has been one of the things that our family has inherited from our ancestors. My family, both on my mother's and father's side are religious. I remember my great-grandmother waking us up early in the morning to pray with her. My grandparents taught my parents and my uncles and aunties to pray. Now, my parents taught us to pray every morning when we wake up, before every meal, and before sleeping. This has been incorporated into my life as I observe and experience praying daily.
Planting
Because of poverty, my ancestors used to live on mountains and planting has become their habit. My great grandparents owned lands where they plant fruits like mangoes, rambutans, jackfruits, star apples, guavas, pineapples, etc. They also plant root crops like sweet potatoes, cassavas, etc. My great-grandparents are indeed hardworking planters. The same is true with my grandparents both on my father's and mother's side. They plant various kinds of plants in their backyards and land. My mother and father inherited this trait. My father likes to plant fruits and vegetables while my mother likes to plant spices, flowers, and orchids.
Dried Coconut Kernels (Copra)
Having to live in the mountainous region where there are a lot of coconut plantations, my ancestor's primary source of income is drying coconut kernels or meat of the coconuts or better known as 'copra'. All males in our family's previous generations have experienced making copra. From our great-grandparents to my parents. Even my mother knows how to make copra. Through the years, our great-grandparents owned land covered with coconut trees or coconut groves, or plantations. These coconut groves are distributed to their children, which are my grandparents. My grandparents continued to use the coconut plantation and eventually, they've distributed it to their children. My family, which is the current generation, also owned land filled with coconut trees but some of them are sold because of lack of money. However, drying coconut kernels has remained to be my family's primary source of income.
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| *photo, not mine* |
Singing
Growing up, I learned that my ancestors like to sing. I can hear my great-grandmother singing every morning while my great-grandfather plays his guitar. My grandmother on my mother's side used to visit us and teach us to sing the hymns that she knows. My grandfather on my father's side also likes to sing. Whenever we visit him, we always hear him singing songs that we couldn't quite familiarize with (maybe because it is an old song and we were not born yet). Both my mother and father like to sing. In fact, they have provided a speaker and a mic so that they can sing in our home. I and my siblings are lovers of music as well. We love to sing together, regardless of our voice not hitting the right notes as long as we can sing, it is fine with us.
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| *photo, not mine* |
Sewing
My ancestors acquired the skill of sewing. They could not afford to go to dressmakers to have their clothes fixed because of poverty, so they've learned to sew by experience. In fact, my grandfather himself is a dressmaker and my grandmother likes to sew. They had this old sewing machine which they had given to us because my mother also knows how to sew and my elder sister had an interest in sewing.
Every person has their own unique family heritage and that heritage makes up his identity. It is necessary to understand that heritage and identity are interrelated. Family heritage helps to create a sense of belonging and identity. The kind of family we come from is who we are. We are taught that family is where our identities are molded and shaped by having our parents as our first teachers. Our parents teach us the values, practices, traditions, or beliefs that their parents have taught them and soon, when it is also our time to have children, we would also teach the things we've learned from our parents to them. Family heritage, therefore, has a significant impact on personality formation. I am who I am now because of the family where I come from. The same is true for you. You are who you come from.
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