One of the many things I am grateful for this holiday season is the opportunity to carry on the traditions we have made as a family over the years. Last night we attended a Candlelight Christmas Eve service at church. That’s one of the traditions we have participated in every year - here in Pennsylvania, in Virginia, and even in Florida when we spent Christmas with my parents. As the kids got older, they started a tradition of going to the movies on Christmas Day. I didn’t always participate in that one, but I will this year.

We have curry goat at Thanksgiving and cake for breakfast on a birthday...weird but true Rochester family traditions.

My kids did not always appreciate some of the activities that we now realize have become traditions. For example, we always watched “It’s a Wonderful Life” at Christmas (it happens to be my favorite movie.) I bought the DVD when they were little, and they actually hid it one year. Lucky for me it was showing on TV, so we watched it on TV…commercials and all. When I discovered that the Naro Theatre in Norfolk showed the movie every year at Christmas time, we would all pile into the car and head to Norfolk to watch the movie. I would offer to buy Starbucks which would magically inspire enthusiasm in my teens. After years of this tradition, the season’s celebrations are just not complete without it.

As the seasons in our lives have changed, I am so very grateful for traditions. They bring a comfortable familiarity back into our routine. As we anticipate the future, as duty calls us to be who-knows-where in the world, as the family grows and moves, I look forward to continuing old traditions, and making new ones.

Merry Christmas!