Traditions

Recently, I've been thinking about family traditions. When Kevin was a kid, he loved visits with his grandfather. He always knew that each day he was there, his grandfather would take him out for an ice cream cone. It was such a special time for Kevin that he delighted in continuing this tradition with his grandsons.

Russell and Randall spent the night last night. Jaime and Slade joined us to watch Monk and Psych. We kept the boys so they didn't have to be awakened. Kevin got up with the boys in the morning and took them out to breakfast. He's done it more than once and it's become his special tradition with the boys. I think Kevin may enjoy it even more than the boys!

So it made me think about traditions. I think they're important because they give a feeling of belonging and a sense of purpose and a continuity to our lives.

I remember making my own tradition as a kid. On Thanksgiving Day, I'd watch "Miracle on 34th Street" on TV. I watched it by myself but I loved it. It was one of the first videos I every bought so that I could share it with my family.

Some traditions lasted for so many years that it's become a part of our lives that we can't imagine otherwise. Christmas morning will always involve powder sugar donuts and a stocking to open. Some traditions were done only for a special occasion. I wrote a devotional book for each of the girls their senior year filled with stories of how God showed Himself to us through the years.

My grandmother gave me a light mint green blanket when I was born. My mother wrapped me in it when I came home from the hospital. I saved it and wrapped all my girls in that same blanket when they came home from the hospital. Then each of my girls wrapped their babies in it when they came home from the hospital. To be able to be wrapped in love from 3 generations past is a very special tradition.



For years the girls have posed like Charlie's Angels. And when they were little, they sometimes had matching outfits. A few years ago, they put those 2 traditions together for one of my favorite gifts - a picture of my girls and a reminder of years of tradition.

Family traditions counter alienation and confusion. They help us define who we are; they provide something steady, reliable and safe in a confusing world.

If you have traditions you enjoy, work to keep them alive and well. If you don't have any special traditions, establish your own, that will make the kind of memories that you will cherish when you look back on your life.

Traditions are good for your heart and your soul.