Traditions

Thanksgiving will be here before we know it.  Like most holidays it is filled with tradition.  Tables will be set with our finest, most of us will have turkey, family will gather and we will give thanks for all that we have.  Memories will be made on that day and the rituals we do will become traditions for our children and grandchildren.  Tradition is a huge part in our lives and our children’s lives.  Why?  I think it gives stability in our now very complex and unstable world.  It is something you can count on and need. As I am growing old, I find that many of the old traditions have faded away, but new ones have taken their place. 

As a child, we used to open our Christmas presents on Christmas Eve because with 8 very anxious children, I don’t think my mother could wait and deal with us until the next morning.  It continued a tradition when I got married.  My husband being Puerto Rican did not celebrate the giving of gifts on Christmas.  In Puerto Rico they exchanged gifts on New Years or what he called the Coming of 3 Kings.  We agreed to celebrate it with my tradition.  Now we have a new tradition of opening gifts on Christmas morning so that my daughter-in-laws family can also share part of Christmas with our grandsons.  The day doesn’t really matter as long as we gather and spend the day together and keep our traditions. 

I need to fill my life with tradition because it brings happiness to me.  It is something I can count on and find great pleasure in.  The more traditions the merrier I say.

Be happy and God bless you.