Happy Thanksgiving y'all!!
God is good and I am so thankful for Jesus and my family. I am a traditional gal as I value my Lord and my family mostly above all other traditions. I don't really care for decorating my house according to seasons and holidays. I don't really care about keeping up with trends and doing and buying what everyone else is doing.
I was remembering my childhood and I can't think of any traditions we kept as a family. Most American families would think this weird or strange. As I thought and thought, the only tradition that we kept was this: whatever we did, we did as a family.
I remember one year going to my Grandma's for Christmas (she lived on the other side of Brazil, so it wasn't something we did every year). She had a Christmas tree put up and we got gifts but we really didn't care for the gifts at all. We were much more interested in spending time with Grandma, eating her wonderful cooking, running barefoot and playing in the rain. In Brazil, it's summertime during Christmas. :)
One year, we spend Thanksgiving with a family in California. They had us over as guests for their dinner. I remember stuffing the turkey and finding it more delicious than the meat itself. I remember the man of the house watching football on TV and forgetting to talk to us, his guests.
Another year, we spend Christmas eve at a hotel up in Lake Tahoe. We watched Rambo on tv and had Dominos Pizza for dinner. There were no gifts, no tree. We had a blast. The next day we went skiing.
Our first year in the US, my Mom bought I huge Christmas tree, all the way up to the ceiling. We made our own ornaments and bought hundreds more. Instead of waiting until Christmas morning to open our gifts, we opened them on Christmas eve. In Brazil, we celebrate Christmas on the 24th in the evening with a big dinner, and games, gifts and lots of fun. Christmas morning is left to sleep in, and lunch is for eating left overs. My parents went overboard buying us toys. I remember I got roller skates, a walkman, clothes, stuffed animals, a Michael Jackson LP, and so much more. It was a gift extravaganza. It was never done again. We didn't really mind that at all.
I think because I have come to realize that our tradition has always been: whatever we did, wherever we went, we did as a family. Our tradition has always been to be together as a family.
So as to continue that ONE tradition, my husband and I spend today with our 4 children at home by ourselves. For the first time, we have put up a Christmas tree as a family. I don't know if we will do it again, but it really doesn't matter because the important thing is that we were together.
Today as we gave thanks to God (a daily thing to a Christian) I cooked up a meal not traditional for American customs. I fixed my roasted chicken with beer and orange juice, brown rice with mushrooms, spinach au gratin and roasted russet and sweet potatoes.
Everyone ate well and we had left overs. God is good. :)
How about you? what are your traditions?
Tereza
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