Can We Learn Something From Tradition?

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

Is it possible to learn something from family tradition?

I believe it is.

During this Thanksgiving Holiday Season, I thought about the many traditions in my life and how I’ve lived by them much of my life.

The Tradition we repeat year after

Today I was digging out Christmas boxes from my garage when my neighbor called.  This is a neighbor that has lived next to my parents since my parents moved into my home in 1976.  She has always been like a big sister to me (she’s the same age as my 1/2 sister in France)

Today, she called offering my daughter and I some homemade turkey soup.  Not a big deal except this has been a traditon of hers for YEARS.

When my mother was alive, we LOVED when she would offer us her homemade soup and this year was no different.

As I walked home, I thought about the traditions of the season: Neighborly love with soup and treats, to decorations and other things we just do.

The Traditions we carry on

As I was growing up, I remember many traditions of my family that I still carry on today although both of my parents are gone now.

To this day, Thanksgiving Dinner involves dishes my parents introduced us to as we were growing up.

~ Candied Sweet Potatoes
~ Homemade Pumpkin Pie
~ Green Beans sauted with bacon
~ Biscuits

Funny thing is that both my brother and I don’t veer off this traditional family meal.  Over the years extra dishes have been added but the basics always remain the same.

~ my father would always put up outdoor Christmas light – the old Vintage C9’s.  This is a traditon I carried on for years, even to the point that I would come to my parents house to put their lights up when my father could no longer climb the ladder.

C9’s were on my house up until 2012 – the last Christmas my mother was here with me.

Ironically, these light bulbs are something I refused to replace with leds or anything else.  I prefer the Retro look I suppose.

I still own several light sets and numerous bulbs and can’t bring myself to part with them just yet.

~ My mother would always make a Buche de Noel (Yule Log) every single year.  This is one tradition I found challenging to keep up and attempted to make one only one year.  When mom stopped baking, this tradition went by the wayside.

Just might be a great year to revive this one again.

Traditions that we create ourselves

Sometime over the years I began making homemade Christmas cookies, the ones made with rolled out dough.  The recipe was given to me by my mom from a 1976 or 1977 Ladies Home Journal Magazine and I’ve made them ever since.

There is a cool ingredient added to this recipe that I truly believe makes all the difference in the world.  My family almost fights for these.

I’ve even tried the lazy route and bought packaged cookie dough but they are just NOT the same.  This is a tradition I believe I will keep and hopefully pass on to my daughter some day.

  So what have I learned from the tradition in my family?

Well for starters, I’ve learned a lot about my family.

My father was from the south so we carried on the traditions of his Southern upbringing. He used to make the most AWESOME homemade biscuits.

My mother was French, so treats like Buche de Noel shared her French heritage and upbringing.

I’ve learned that there is comfort in continuing the tradition I’ve grown up with over the years.  It has given me a sense of belonging which has become even MORE important now that both parents are gone.

It has taught me that the things I continue to do with my own family could possibly carry on for years as my children have children, etc.

Many traditions bring up familiar feelings from years ago and that is comforting and sought after during the holidays.

Am I willing to creating new tradition in my life?

There was a time when I might have said no to this question, but last year, I did the unthinkable and I changed my traditions at Christmas and my daughter and I ran off to Kauai instead of hanging around at home.

Honestly, it was my first Christmas without my mom and I thought that I could avoid the feelings the holidays brought up by running to a tropical island.

Truth is, the things, outter trappings, location, etc are not what make he holidays what they are, it’s the fond loving memories we create over the years that stick with us.

I have decided to run off to Kauai again this Christmas and have been calling it my new tradition.  I’m excited to enjoy mild temperatures, beach, and fun, but part of me wishes I was putting up Christmas lights on my house, staying up until midnight laying in bed watching Mass with the Pope, and all the other stuff I took for granted for so many years.

What tradition in your life are you sticking with and why?  Leave me a comment and share, would love to hear them. 🙂

Happy Holidays,