As the holidays are approaching, I’ve been thinking a lot about traditions. As a kid, every Thanksgiving morning, we would wake up to my mom already hard at work preparing a huge Thanksgiving meal -- along with having the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on the television. We loved watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. I don’t remember a Thanksgiving day that didn’t start out this way.
As I got older and started my own family, I too started the day the same way, by preparing a huge meal and watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with my girls. I didn’t realize the importance or significance of this routine until the last few years as my girls are older and that tradition is now a memory that I miss. Turning that parade on every year while I am cooking takes me back to every year that I watched it with my mom and then watched it with my own daughters.
Another tradition the women of my family have always had is the infamous Black Friday shopping. Every year, after dinner on Thanksgiving day, we would all gather in the living room and flip through the newspaper, carefully going through the big sale ads, planning out our route and what time we were heading out to brave the mass chaos. As crazy as it sounds, it was something we all truly enjoyed. Funny how old it makes me feel, thinking about how we used to find coupons and sale ads in the newspaper, compared to now, when the ads are in the palm of our hands thanks to technology.
After a very long day of shopping, we would head to DiCarlo’s Pizza and pick up trays of pizza to take home to those awaiting our return. We would finish the day by watching "National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation". To this day, we still watch the movie. Oh, the laughs and the sweet memories.
I am learning to not take these moments for granted. As my parents are getting older and the logistics of getting together has become an issue, those moments are special.
So, for as long as you can, keep those traditions alive and keep making those memories!
;)
