Traditions

Today in Human Behavior we talked about the importance of traditions. This topic ranged from family traditions to cultural traditions. Our professor asked us to think of how this relates to our lives. I began to think about what traditions my family has passed down, and one stuck out in my mind. My family isn't very cultural, and whatever culture we had we have lost. We are French and Swedish, but we don't show that at all in the house. Because our culture was lost, my great great grandmother thought that it was important to start our own family traditions. One family tradition that she started was family reunions. My father's family is huge and spread out all over the United States. I have relatives ranging from Maine to California to Florida to Colorado. Because of this, it is hard to keep in touch and meet up often. My great grandmother started a tradition where we all get together for one week once every four years. At the reunion, we all vote on where the spot will be next time. We also vote on commitees, such as "events" or "dinner planners." It has become huge. I love the reunions and it gives me something to look forward to. Within that tradition, we have many others that go along during the week, for example, a talent show and open mic night. Last year, it was in San Diego, California. In three years from now, it will be in the Outer Banks, North Carolina.

My family also has traditions regarding holidays, like any other family. Although the most celebrated holiday in the year is Christmas, Thanksgiving is the most meaningful to me. My grandparents live in Maine. Every Thanksgiving, some of the extended family travel up to Maine to visit them. We arrive on Wednessday night, and stay until Friday. The entire stay is full of tradition, and I have never met a family with such an agenda. Wednesday night we celebrate the coming of Thanksgiving with pie and catching up with the family around the fireplace. Later that night, the children of the family put on a Haunted House through the upstairs. After the short and not-so-scary haunted house, we all head to bed. Thursday, we're up nice and early. If you sleep past nine, Grandpa will be sure to stick in the CD of his favorite Orchestra, which projects into every room through the house-speakers. It's better to wake up early, trust me. Once we are all awake, fed, and showered, we watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade on the TV. Once it hits one, we all get bundled up and get out of the house. My grandparents live on the beach, so we gather champagne, bread and spinach dip and head down to the ocean. We all gather on this huge rock near the ocean which is inscribed with the name "Birch." My Aunt Judy starts off the family with the word "We...." and we all follow her in the song "We Gather Together." Why we do this, I'm not sure. But it's tradition, and nobody asks questions. I suppose it's because the words show the true meaning of Thanksgiving very well. After that, my grandfather opens the champage off of the rock into the ocean, and then we celebrate our thanks together as we eat bread and finish the drinks. The children are given sparkling champage, which is really white grape juice with bubbles. My grandmother heads back into the house around 1:45 to put the turkey on the table. The rest of the family arrives back there at two. When we get back, the table is filled with food and there are nametags for where we are sitting. Behind the nametags, is a little gift bag for each of us. This gift bag is from a character named "Turkey Claus." Yes, Turkey Claus. It's kind of like Santa Claus, except he comes on Thanksgiving instead. :) Whenever I explain it, it sounds so weird. I guess you need to be in the family to understand it. We all grew up thinking that Turkey Claus was in the mix with Santa and the Tooth Fairy. It was just another character. Turkey Claus gives each person a gift bag that contains an ornament. This ornament is the most meaningful part of Thanksgiving for me. When my great great grandmother was starting traditions, she wanted her future offspring to understand why Thanksgiving was so important. She wanted us to all understand the meaning behind it. To do this, she invented Turkey Claus to bring us gifts. The ornaments represent something we did well that year that we should be thankful for. For example, freshman year in highschool I was given an ornament of a diploma, representing my graduation from 8th grade and moving onto a new stage in my life. The ornaments remind us that we have a lot to be thankful for. As children, it also made us feel like someone really noticed our accomplishments. Although I now know that it is my grandmother, I still love the idea. It makes me know that she notices these things as well.

After this reflection, I know that traditions are important. I never realized how much of an impact that this had on my family and my life. I know that I am going to pass this on to my future family. Even if it's corny, it is something that ties us together and makes us a family. I mean, what other family has Turkey Claus?