The Value of Tradition in Family Life

"Every heart that has beat strong and cheerfully has left a hopeful impulse behind it in the world, and bettered the tradtion of mankind."
~Robert Louis Stevenson 

I am indebted to generations of family that have passed on our heritage and traditions, and with each passing year, I am more and more appreciative of the legacy entrusted to me. Tradition is a gift to be passed on to my children; and while it truly is a gift, it is also their birthright, an integral part of their identity.


Sometimes the passing on of tradition can be hard work and all too easily tossed aside in our ever- busy lives. But it is tradition that glues a family together and causes us too look back on days filled with special memories.

Today we made Fasnachts, a kind of donut made by the Pennsylvania dutch the day before Lent. Both of my parents grew up near Lancaster county where the custom of making Fasnachts originated. Only one of my grandparents is actually Pennsylvania dutch, the others are all of Irish descent. I just know that my mother has made Fasnachts as far back as I can remember, and I have continued the tradition with my own children.

I read something by Thomas Merton that has been stewing in my mind the last couple of days:

"Lent  is not a season of punishment, so much a s a season of healing."
(From : Lent and Easter Wisdom From Thomas Merton, p.2)

Of course, that does not mean we should not deny ourselves more than usual during Lent, however, the focus  should be on what we can add to our lives that will bring about healing and peace not only to ourselves, but to those around us.

Perhaps beginning a few traditions this Lent may be one way to bring family members together? Traditions are like habits; at first they are hard to get used to,  but after a while you don't know how you lived without them!

I pray you have a blesed and peaceful Lent; may this season bear much fruit in your lives!

Legacy

Looking out the window on the way to my childhood home, an hour over the mountain

Life is a dance.

We must live in the present, yet seek the eternal. Savor the moment and build for the future. With our eyes towards Heaven, we feather our earthly nests with love and pepper them with beauty. There are distractions, there is ugliness in the world and in our own hearts that can spew forth and bubble over at any given time. Yet still, we must strive and labor on the journey towards our heavenly home and hopefully leave a  legacy behind that enables our loved ones to do the same..

I am rich. I have an inheritance that I hope to pass on to my own children. It is the inheritance of home. A legacy... 

Of friendly ghosts in the woods, of warm hugs that melt, happy faces not waiting, but running out to meet...

Grandma greets the girls at the van



Pa Pa hugs Emily



An inheritance of beauty in unexpected places, little details that mattered because I am loved, friends waving over fences...

A handing down of traditions that knit our hearts and affections, make us laugh and water our souls...

Tommy bobs for apples

and so do I!

John Paul's turn

Tommy holds the prize



the jeering crowds



A treasure hunt with hand drawn clues that perplex and amuse:

...Where even the grown-ups get a prize!

Home is the reassurance that you will be well-cared for:

There is always food on the table or a simple snack to prepare. Nothing is too much trouble.

Grandma and Papa's cozy kitchen

We had a wonderful Halloween celebration yesterday at Grandma and Papa's.

Tommy (dressed as a 'shirt' for Halloween) with his cousin, Ella

The ride home last night gave me a lot to think about. I was thinking how these three little boys of mine are not so little anymore...

And how we have been taking our children trick-or-treating for seventeen years, now. And how my parents have made it all happen all these years, and now it's time to hand down the torch...

Thinking of the passage of time and how the moments evaporate into fully grown children who aren't making halloween costumes anymore.

And Tradition. It is important.  Things can't always be the same, and we can't force tradition, but there is comfort and joy in knowing that we will once again be doing what we know.

That being said....Tradition does not just happen. Tradition tells our children that we care enough to make life special for them, that we value family togetherness and that togetherness is the glue that binds a family. It is not what  we do together as a family, but the spirit with which we do it that

makes life grand. Frozen eggrolls in front of a football game can be just as heart warming as an elaborate feast with wine and cheese.

Better [is] a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith. Proverbs 15:17

Thank you, Mom and Dad!