Traditions?

At the moment, it’s fairly difficult for me to write about my family’s traditions. Over the summer and at the beginning of school, my family pretty much imploded. There were a lot of changes, a lot of stress, and just a lot of ‘mess’ in general. It’s been, to be honest, very difficult managing those problems as well as balancing the new experiences of college, living on my own, holding a job, and being involved with clubs and friends. It’s made me really grow up, and I’ve had to question much of what I valued.

With all of this going on, this blog topic is an interesting challenge for me. There are a few traditions that I could mention- habits and events that have been established since my childhood. I could, I suppose, describe our tradition of going to my grandmother’s for Thanksgiving, or attending church every Easter morning, or picking out a Christmas tree together, or any of a dozen other generic practices that could be plucked off a Hallmark card. But, the second stipulation of our assigned topic was that we value the traditions we discuss. That, frankly, no longer applies.

I no longer put any stock in the appearance of warmth that these traditions imply. No matter how permanent and secure a reoccurring ritual may be, it does not guarantee that the family is permanent or secure. So, consequently I can’t really say any tradition is important to me. Instead, I prefer to focus on day to day life with my mom and two sisters. The fact that we are still together and happy after everything that’s happened much more gratifying and important than any of old traditions.