Traditions in December

Had to spend a bit of time pondering this one for today.  Whenever I see or hear "tradition," I hear the music from "Fiddler on the Roof."  The story focuses on the changes impacting the patriarchal traditions embraced by Tevye and the struggles amidst the tensions that occur because of those changes.  So there is the one aspect of traditions that are undergoing change which may or may not be embraced.  Then there are the memories of possibly happy traditions related to December holidays.   But even then, as families grow and expand and include new family members, family traditions often evolve and change to include new traditions.  Again, tensions may occur as new traditions are born and older traditions cease to be followed.  

There are, of course, a multitude of traditions around meals during the holidays.  For a period of time, when I was young, we often ordered Chinese food for Christmas Eve so that my Mom didn't have to cook as we had a tradition of having a very large family meal with cousins and grandparents on Christmas Day and that involved a lot of cooking.  My Mom and Aunt traded off on who cooked Thanksgiving and who cooked Christmas dinner, but we always shared those two holidays with my cousins who lived in the same town along with my Mom's parents.  So if it was my Mom's turn to cook Christmas dinner, we had Chinese food on Christmas Eve.  That tradition only existed for a short period of time when we shared holiday meals with an extended family, but ended as children grew up and lived elsewhere, we no longer had our grandparents with us, and our parents moved.  But, it is still a fond memory.  And once I moved to Minnesota, different traditions around holiday meals evolved and changed the longer I was here.  Eventually, I was included in Christmas Eve dinner at the home of good friends, and that has become an almost annual tradition.  And I look forward to sharing my Christmas Eve dinner with them again this year.  At the same time, I have another good friend who for the first time ever, is NOT hosting a family holiday meal in December.  Her children are older with their own families and she and her husband will now be guests instead of hosts.  I'm looking forward to hearing how she does in this newfound "freedom" and the possible birth of a new family tradition.

So, just the word "tradition" can stir up happy or not so happy memories and that is why I had to ponder a bit more in preparing something to write.  For those of us getting into more advanced ages, our lives experience all kinds of changes that affect what traditions we carry on during the holidays.  From the loss of people no longer with us, to new family members and new friends, we make adjustments.   I will hope this December if you are undergoing adjustments, that you are enjoying those traditions that make you happy, but also not being subjected to traditions, old or new,  that create stress.   And if your traditions are undergoing change, I hope you embrace the changes and are able to accept them as a positive force in your life.  With the remaining days of December, may you be feeling more joy and engaging in activities that make you happy and finding pleasure in the company of others to share your happiness.