Tradition
Nathan Schmidt
With Christmas coming up, tradition has got to be a topic on everyone's mind. Almost everyone has some sort of tradition. Maybe you watch the same movie every year on Christmas. Maybe you go to a Christmas party every year around this time. My family has many traditions. For a while, one of these traditions was that we would go to our grandparents' house in Wisconsin every year for Christmas. It had become one of my favorite vacations of the year and it was always something I looked forward to. But then, a few years ago, my grandparents wanted to sell the house. The first thing my mind jumped to when I heard about this was "what about Christmas!?" I felt like I needed to try to convince my grandparents that they needed to keep this house. Because of Christmas? Really? I was not successful in convincing them to keep the house, so it went on the market and sold within the first day. Being that I was fairly young at the time, I was so upset. I thought that Christmas would forever be ruined.
We still go to Wisconsin every year, but now we go to my aunt and uncle's house instead. But why do we hold traditions so close to us? Here's another example. Every year on Christmas Eve, we eat fondue for dinner. Now there was one year that we didn't. I was wildly upset, keep in mind, still, I was pretty young at the time. Now, I do enjoy fondue, but was it worth throwing a fit over, definitely not. And if it were any other time of the year, I would not have gotten as upset. So why are these traditions so important? My guess is that it is more a symbol than anything else. I like eating fondue on Christmas Eve because it's what we've always done. I like eating fondue on Christmas Eve because it brings back memories of previous years, memories of a joyous time. I would like to hear other thoughts on this. Do any of you have any traditions that you would feel devastated to lose? If yes, why do you think that is?
I get what you mean when you say we become so attached to our traditions. Every Christmas Eve my mom makes Mexican food like beans, rice, and tacos, and my dad makes a spicy soup called the Bowl of Red. We eat the same thing every year, and I've never noticed this, but even the thought of eating something else on Christmas Eve unsettles me and makes me feel kind of uncomfortable. My family has been doing this for as long as I can remember, and the nostalgia I have with my memories extending back to when I was 7 is too strong to ignore. For me, keeping this tradition comforts me in knowing that although I am growing up and many things are changing, Christmas is still the same fun holiday as when I was a kid.
ReplyDeleteMy family always tries to set traditions. They'll say things like "for now long we'll go to church on Christmas", "we'll go our grandparent's house on Christmas", or "we'll get the Christmas tree the weekend of Thanksgiving." However these traditions rarely last more than one year because we either forget about it or don't feel like continueing that tradition.
ReplyDeleteLast year for Christmas my family went to visit my family in Hawaii. I was beyond excited to go, but it meant missing out on all of my Christmas traditions, and I was beyond upset. There is something about the repitition with family that I hold close to my heart.
ReplyDeleteFor over 40 years, my family has spent Christmas Eve night with my dad's side... there were 5 of us "cousins" and we're all grown now. My grandfather and grandmother are long gone, and for the first few years, we kept the tradition going pretty well, just rotating our houses for it. But in 2017 and 2018 things fell apart a bit, admittedly due mostly to me not wanting to go. This year, it was wholly up to me whether or not to pick it back up. I was conflicted because I knew it would still be difficult to be around my cousins and their kids, but I also wasn't about to let 40 years of tradition fall apart for good because of me. So we went. It was indeed stressful, but we got through it, and my cousin Todd repeatedly thanked me for coming and "keeping the tradition alive."
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