Traditions are activities or practices that are enjoyed
and repeated over time with some regularity.
Simple family practices as eating special foods at holiday times, enjoying a
yearly vacation or attending special celebrations together such as reunions, birthdays,
weddings, graduations or decorating graves on Memorial day, etc. can build
family unity and identity.
When
I was a young girl I remember visiting my grandparents often. My grandmother
liked to put together puzzles with me. We would sit together for hours in her
quiet home working together, talking a little and just building our
relationship. Now I can do that with my grandchildren (IF I can get them
unplugged.) I remember making tarts with another grandma. Cooking or baking together
is almost a lost art during these days of fast foods. Making homemade bread was
a necessity in those good old days, nowadays it’s a rare occurrence. It was fun
to make cookies together or other treats to enjoy during our visits. Eating
meals together was a celebration.
Being
an empty nest parent of four sons, I was delighted to have my grown son and his
family visit recently during their spring break. My computer savvy son offered
to cook a special meal for my husband’s birthday (his stepfather.) What fun to
work by my son’s side as grownups as he taught me how to fix real Italian spaghetti. Though we aren’t
Italian, his wife has that ancestry. When in-laws join a family, they can bring
in new traditions that can be incorporated. Ethnic dishes can be discovered and
new traditions enjoyed together.
Families
constantly expand and change as new members are added through birth, marriage
and/or adoption. Differences can be celebrated and added to the mix of a
constantly expanding group of individuals called family. Each person has some
unique quality or personality to add to a group bonded by love and shared
experiences. Forming new traditions or practices to celebrate together will
build unity and understanding. Just the simplicity of sharing holidays by
taking turns which family hosts a special meal or time together can be
enjoyable.
