My Family Culture Made Me Who I Am

I ponder about my family culture, and the person it has made me today. The beliefs it has led me to believe, the traditions I have grown up with, and the way I was reared up into this life in general. I grew up in a small and sheltered area where my school consisted of around 400 students, and around 40-50% of those students were LDS. My dad worked, and all growing up, my mother was a stay at home mom. She cooked my family breakfast every morning, and we ate dinner together as a family basically every night. We are all very close and focus the majority of our activities around our family. I live in the country where The closest mall is an hour and half away, and I never knew anything different. I spent the majority of my growing up life outside playing in the pasture, and barn, and getting dirty with my cousins. My cousin's live all along my road, so I grew up with them as my best friends. Like I mentioned, my family is very close... including my extended family.

I would consider my family as middle class. My parents did not attend college, so maybe some people would label us lower, but they are knowledgeable and know how to work and earn a living. We're comfortable, and because I grew up in the class I'm in, I feel I am humbled, and because of that I know I can be grateful for what I have. I'm actually grateful I grew up and was raised the way I was. I understand hard work, and the reward which comes from it. I know how to grow a garden, work in the house, work outside, care for farm animals, can food, and many other things, and I am so, so, sooo grateful for all of that! Yes, growing up in a sheltered area does have it's cons. For example, I had much of a culture shock when I would go on trips to Washington, or Oregon, or any areas really. It was so weird to me seeing these things that were quite normal for a lot of people, but entirely different for me. I still would not take anything back though.