By Shannon Williams
The holidays are always a time for traditions, but do traditions have to always be the way we celebrate the holidays? I have many traditions that I love and almost throw a fit (ok, I have been known to throw them) if someone suggest that we change how we celebrate. But how will we ever have new traditions to pass on, if we do not start some new traditions and maybe even some that are more with the times? This becomes more important if you are blending a family and when you begin to add in-laws and their traditions. I am trying to be open to traditions from all the “families” within my family these days. I also want to start some new ones that hopefully will be part of Christmas to come.

I was listening to an interview with a celebrity and their traditions and they describe one that they had only been doing for two years. At first I thought, well that is not a tradition, but a tradition has to start somewhere and sometime, so maybe we all need to look at some of ours and see how we can add in others to make the holidays feel like home for us all.

When we lose a generation to death, holidays never seem to be the same, and it takes a couple of years to kind of find our way with those we love missing. For many years we had a roshambo (rock, scissors, paper) tournament at the holidays with my parents and all of my siblings, and our children. It was always great fun, and we all took it very seriously. We had an entry fee of $5 per person, if you were under the age of 16, a parent or grandparent had to pay your fee. Any age could play but you had to be able to understand the game and play without help. We had a traveling trophy that would have that year’s winner’s name engraved, and then you kept it until the next year. It was always a source of great fun and I have many memories of wonderful times. My father has been gone for 8 years and while we have tried to play the game again, it was just not the same without my father.

Since my mother is dealing with many memory issues, I wanted to do something that might remind her of Christmas traditions. Her mother had won a contest in the early 60’s with her apricot bar recipe. Grandmother would bake them each year at Christmas and after she died my mother and sisters and I would gather and bake them each year. We all live so far apart now, that we have not had them in many years. I decided this was the year to bake them again.

Well I burned the first batch and the other two did not look so great, but the taste was as good as I remembered. I have mailed or delivered them to all of my siblings and their children, along with taking some to my mother this past weekend. The look on my mom’s face when she took that first bite was priceless, you could tell it took her back to her mother’s kitchen. I was not sure she fully understood what I had baked, but she did when she ate them and exclaimed, these are from my mama!!

With a five-year-old grandson, I want to have traditions that he will remember and carry with him. My son is great at that and cooks almost the same meals for the holidays as I do. It is great fun to talk to him as we are both cooking and share the day together even when we cannot be together in person. As our celebration is going to be different this year due to the pandemic, I am going to try to build new traditions in with the old to celebrate with all those I love.

[Dec-14-2020]