what history?

To me, I have no family history. I grew up not knowing much about either side of my family’s history. What I know are just broad generalizations about my family’s past and how we got to where we are today. What I can remember comes from not a first hand memory, but some stories that my parents have told me over the years. Most of my personal memories about my family only include my immediate family.
What little I know includes my crazy and loud Italian side of the family that belongs to my mother. The majority of the Frioni family members live in Pennsylvania and because there are so many of them, the city throws a special parade just for them. Unfortunately, I happen to know almost nothing about my father’s side of the family. My family’s history is not part of who I am because I grew up learning only from my immediate family. I was not raised with any special family traditions or know anything about our culture; therefore, my identity has been formed with the morals and ethics that my own two parents have taught me on their own. Our traditions, such as how we spend our holidays, having a family dinner ever Sunday night, and other little things have started with my parents and will continue on through my own children.
Although I do know not know much about my heritage, I have formed my own identity through my experiences, my immediate family’s experiences, and my memory of these experiences. I feel that a person does not need to know much about their family’s history in order to form their own sense of self. A person’s identity is something that belongs to them and is not influenced by other things.



Rachael Renfrrow
English 289-012