Not the Tradition - The Memory

Tonight we had burgers at Soda Pops in Moore with my two grandsons and their parents.  L. kept asking if the 5 foot dancing Santa in the corner was real.  The boys wanted us to go back to their house to eat pie and watch "Frosty the Snow Man".  How could we turn that down?  You should have seen their little faces when they proudly showed us their Christmas tree and all their ornaments.  L. had to show us each decoration around the house and the mobile of Santa and his sleigh flying around the earth which was hanging in their room.  They were so very proud of everything including the pie in the refrigerator. 

B. curled up next to me to get his back rubbed (after he finished the chocolate pie) and L. piled up on his daddy's lap to hear how Frosty came to life.  The room was quiet except for Frosty and the laughter from L., and the snoring of the hubby now and again.  It was a precious moment in time; a memory.   

I have had my traditions with my own children and my parents, but they are now gone.  They would be the first to tell me to enjoy the moment without regard to whether I am making a tradition.  That is exactly what we did tonight.  We didn't go to Hamburger King's in Shawnee as we have done almost every year since I was a wee girl.  The tradition was broken, but you know what, we made a memory and after all that is what a tradition is about - making a memory.  I think my boys will remember tonight.  They might not remember it as it actually was, but hopefully they will remember the love that was in that room tonight just as I remember the love that filled my childhood home.   

If you are stressing trying to make your tradition work, then it might be time to reassess your priorities.  You cannot recreate the past, and if you try you will fail for it will never be as it was 20 years ago.  It won't even be like it was a year ago.  It really isn't the tradition, it is the memory and sometimes it is best just to remember.     

L. was full of laughter in one Frosty scene and told his daddy to laugh 'cause it is funny.  That really  touched me.  These little boys of mine are so innocent and so precious.  Don't you wish you had the ability to look at life through the eyes of a child? 

Tomorrow I will tell you a little about my Great Aunts Bertie and Laura and our visits with them during the Christmas season.  I love you all!  Night night!