Christmas is over. All that’s left is the food hangover and the messy kitchen. It’s such a great time of the year. No matter what, there’s always something special. This year, when I pulled out my decorations and my Christmas tree, I was just not feeling it. I wondered if I should have bought a live tree. Those same old decorations just felt boring. I could imagine something prettier, newer. But, on Christmas eve, when my grown children analyzed that tree, searching for their favorite ornaments and quizzing me to see if I knew which ones they were, I guessed wrong and was told that I always do that, it was as though they were transported back in time for just a moment, remembering all those years and the ornaments that they carefully made and signed. That’s when I realized that my tree was a tradition for them.
As I prepared for Christmas Eve at my house, I knew I didn’t want to cook something. I decided to buy the frozen lasagne, it’s a favorite treat of ours, the vegetarian one. My daughter said it wouldn’t be Christmas Eve without it! What? I guess it’s wh
at I have always done without actually realizing it. Another tradition. And, now knowing that it meant something to her, I went to five grocery stores to find our favorite kind, only to find a poor substitute. But, that’s alright. That bad lasagne will just be one more fun story to add to our collection.
I love those traditions. Some that have been passed down over the years from our parents and grandparents and others that were just happy accidents, the kind of special thing that you want to repeat over and over. Now that my daughter has started her own family, I wonder about the traditions that they will start and continue and one day look back on. It’s that whole circle of life thing.
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