of traditions

I just put dinner in the oven.  It's a tuna casserole that my Aunt Sis (who is one of my readers - thanks Aunt Sis!!) gave me the recipe for years and years and years ago.  It's still the only tuna casserole I like.  When the kids were growing up, it was a bit of a staple around our house.  It's cheap, easy, and yummy, and those were the kind of meals necessary in our little farm house in Fackler.

When the kids got out on their own, they each called at some point asking for the recipe.  They both also have the recipe for Beef Noodle Bake, which was my mom's favorite dish to make, and my brother Tim's favorite to eat.  I guess both recipes have become a sort of tradition in my family - three generations and counting.  So, as I was putting together the casserole, I was thinking about traditions.

When I became mom, I knew that I wanted my kids to have a strong family base.  Not necessarily to be living on a compound with all the kin around, but to learn to value family.  Growing up myself, we had what I didn't consider traditions at the time, but looking back, we did things that became important to me, and that I carried forward to my own family.  We always, always opened presents Christmas morning, never before.  We always went on some sort of vacation together every summer.  We visited the grandparents often, and celebrated every holiday as a family.  There's more, but these are the kinds of things I tried to instill in my kids.

Seth and Lacy will attest to the strict rule about Christmas morning, although we would usually allow one present Christmas Eve.  And for several years, I would read the passage from Luke that told the story of Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus, just like on Charlie Brown.  My parents also started a tradition of having breakfast with us Christmas morning so they could see what Santa brought the kids.  They would make the rounds between everyone's house, and then at some point, we'd head to Big Coon to have family Christmas with turkey (usually dry; my mom never mastered turkey), dressing and gravy (necessary for the turkey), green beans that had been canned the prior summer, and all the rest of the fixings.  We would also travel to Woodville to visit with the other grandmother, making sure we ate something before we went (she was not what you would call an accomplished cook either).  The holiday shuffle, we called it.  Thanksgiving was much the same, as was Easter for a while.  Then I put my foot down and decided that some holidays would be enjoyed as a family unit unto ourselves.

We also took vacations, although not as often as we would have liked.  Going to the beach was an adventure - we couldn't afford a hotel, so we camped at the state park.  It was hot, and sand against sunburn was more prevalent than in a hotel bed, but there were good showers and hot dogs on the grill, and full days spent making sand figures and picking up shells.  Those are some of my most favorite memories.  Often, my parents would take us all on a trip - to places like the Lost Sea or Cherokee.  I think my dad planned these trips out of pity for the kids that had to sleep in tents in the sand at the beach. :)

After I was on my own and living in Huntsville, a couple of new traditions developed.  Thanksgiving became a day for non-tradition.  We would have chili, or chicken and dumplins, or "itty bitty turkeys" (cornish hens), and once it was just Lacy and myself and we spent the day watching chick flicks.  Christmas was the most fun - the kids would come over Christmas Eve and we'd play Trivial Pursuit and have eggnog and beer and get crazy and have a great time being our little family of three.  Of course, presents waited until the next morning.

Things change, however, and although I hung onto my traditions as long as I could, I've learned to let go and allow the kids to start their own.  We've had Christmas on Christmas Eve, we've had Christmas when everybody was scattered to the wind, and Thanksgiving?  Well, Thanksgiving is a toss-up.  We never quite know what we're doing, but at some point over the weekend, we try to get together for a meal of some sort be it breakfast, lunch, dinner, or just finger foods and football.  And we've not had a vacation together for some time, but we've had two "destination" weddings, and now we have visits to Chicago.

Easter has become an tradition of it's own with an adult version of the kid's tradition - the Easter Beer Hunt.  For three years, we've had the gathering at my house in Huntsville, with a gang of friends and eager hunters, grilling and games and fun - be it cold and cloudy or, for once this year, a beautiful, sunny day (although it did rain early).  I've been told that I have to bring the tradition to Chicago, as a few of the participants actually live here now, and I'm positive that I'll have to make a trip south to join in the fun wherever it lands next spring.

This year, the holidays are going to be full of new adventures.  I'm sure I'll head south for Thanksgiving and the Auburn-Alabama game.  I'd love to have everyone here for Christmas, but it will depend on weather and the other families that we have to accommodate.  Maybe a New Year's trip up would be acceptable - and tons of fun for girls and boys of all ages.  Whatever new, one-time "tradition" we end up with this year, I know that family will be at the heart of it.  I'm glad that my kids have family instilled in them and I feel secure in knowing that they will instill the same in their own kids.  And that they will build traditions of their own.  It's good for kids to have something they can count on, and that is solid and known.  It's good to have traditions to take comfort in, and to build fond memories.  And it's good to reach that point when you can stretch your wings a little and develop your own traditions.

Now it's time for traditional tuna casserole.  :)