Holiday Traditions

When my neice was in high school she was asked - at school - about a holiday tradition in her family, and she replied (in speaking of her holidays with her grandparents, i.e. my parents), "Our holiday tradition is making a new tradition."

No one really laughed at this because it was just SO VERY true. We all had the Ahh-that's-insightful kind of look.

I'm afraid I will proabably do the same let's-try-something-new-this-year-tradition. Learned behavior in the formative years tend to be tough to un-learn.

But, there was one tradition that began when my children were very young, and I was able to make sure it happened this Christmas in HK - gingerbread houses. Of course, we didn't really make these at Christmas in GA, we made them on Thanksgiving Day in preparation for the holiday season (new tradition).  Finding enough gingerbread houses for a party proved to be a challenge. Nonetheless, it happened.

(I'm breaking all my rules of allowing not-my-own-kids' pictures to be posted.)

A tradition that would be fun to start in Hong Kong would be having a friend visit for the holidays. So, Rachel (a teacher from Forrest's days in grammar school at Caldwell in NC) didn't really come to HK to visit us, nor did she stay with us; but she went to church with us, ate dinner with us, met us for coffee, and posed for a picture to prove it.  And, she absolutely is a friend! This is an invitation to all.