Artifacts are things that everyone somehow owns. It can be meaningful or not. A quinceañera ring is something that many girls have but usually Hispanic girls because it comes from a Latin culture. A quinceañera is a big celebration that celebrates a girl turning 15. It’s a special day that a girl usually plans for a long time. It celebrates the girl becoming a mature woman and now she is going to begin facing different obstacles in her life. It is a celebration to give thanks to God for the years that she has lived and for more years for her to come. It’s to present the young woman to the community.

It’s also based on religion as the Christian tradition teaches that Mary was a teenage mother of Jesus. Part of the celebration begins with the girl going to church before gathering with her family to celebrate. The ceremony usually starts with the girl sitting at the front of the church and thanking god for a completed childhood. This is where her godparents present her with gifts and jewelry to help add on to a beautiful dress she is wearing. The dress is usually pink. The quinceañera also has maids of honor and escorts of different ages to represent the ages she has completed.

The social part of this celebration comes after they finish the ceremony at church; all her family and friends and loved ones gather with her to eat and to dance. The girl does special performances for the guests with her escorts and maids of honor. Usually it’s a dance and then she has a special dance with her father while everyone is still watching. This tradition started in Mexico but throughout time other Latin countries started doing the tradition also.

I have a quinceañera ring that my mother gave to me with her name on it. It means so much to me and sometimes I wear it and sometimes I don’t because I don’t want to lose it. Every time I see it, it reminds me of the time I celebrated my 15th birthday and got to see all my family. It also reminds me of all my childhood memories and how much my life has changed since then. It’s a very special artifact in the history of my life. Even though it’s small it has so much meaning behind it. When I look at it I am reminded of all the obstacles I have overcome since then and how becoming an adult is not easy. A quinceañera is a big memory a girl has in  her life and it’s an important stage too. It was an experience I will never forget.

Below is a link on more information on quinceañeras:

http://ideas.hallmark.com/quinceanera-ideas/what-is-a-quinceanera/

Here is a short video talking about quinceañeras: