TRADITION

There aren't a whole lot of traditions in my family. Used to be that Christmas presents only got opened on Christmas morning...but some of the family now opens one (or maybe more) on Christmas Eve. Used to be that my sons and I played Sunday afternoon basketball games in the driveway...those days are long gone. There are some food traditions: Pasquales Pizza will draw anybody within driving range to whatever family unit has purchased it. Hungarian goulash gets everybody around the table...the occasion becomes a special one just because that dish is being served. In recent years, most family get-togethers include games of euchre. Since the sons are grown and have their own families and homes we no longer fight over which Christmas tree ornament gets hung in the more prominent place on the tree: Notre Dame or Purdue. Tradition does dictate that when we do all gather to open presents for whatever celebration, the youngest goes first and the oldest goes last.

And then there is the above twist on the word "tradition" that gives it a negative slant.
Its true, of course, we do sometimes keep doing it the way we have always done it just to keep our comfort-level in check, and ward-off any change. That's too bad, I think.
Don't get me wrong, I do like things to run smoothly and predictably. And, truth is, the older I get the more I am not as excited about change as I once was. I don't think I am at the old-and-crotchety stage yet, but I can probably see it from here.
In writing this blog-post I want to remind myself that always doing it the way I have always done it insures that real life will pass me by...surely and quickly.
So, let's celebrate traditions that keep us grounded in where we have come from and allow us to recall heritage and home, but let's not refuse to greet each new day as one in which new possibilities abound! And maybe new traditions begin.