#Happy Easter
[Photo credit: Wix stock photos]
Growing up we had very predictable traditions & rituals for every major holiday. When I look back and think of any one of the major holidays a very specific list of events , meals and social scenarios come to mind that played out year after year. It actually never really occurred to me that not everyone experienced these type of predictable time honored holiday rituals until I got to college and realized the range of different traditions that other families celebrated. It was just one other way attending college in another part of the country from where I had grown up had helped pop the bubble in which I grew up.
As I grew older & grew my own family those traditions that I grew up with stayed with me in part but morphed in to my own variation mixing my migration to the southeastern part of the US with my desire to craft my own individual holiday culture. My style was more a mix of relaxed rituals and much more small family gatherings since we were a family of 4 before my divorce and did not have the privilege of having family over and only occasional friends since many were out of state friends who were visiting relatives during holidays. My ex husband and I wanted to keep things simple and mitigate travel to establish our own traditions in our own home and familiar surroundings. However, that changed again once we separated when my kids were 2 1/2 and almost 5. This brought about a drastic change in the ritual of holiday celebrations and the revision of traditions to fit the custody arrangement to accommodate the sharing of holidays throughout the calendar year. Adapting & keeping things as "normal" as possible for the kids at both households was the priority above all else.
So as we celebrate this holiday today I will be grateful for the chance to be with my husband of almost 9 years , my son and daughter and will be doing a teleconference with parents , siblings as well as other extended family across the miles. Yet another new twist to holiday celebrations that none of us may have ever thought we would have had to integrate in to our plans but now find ourselves doing even if you have family living in the same town. However, for some such as myself and our family celebrating via facetime, text and phone calls is just business as usual living about 600 miles from the majority of our family for over 30 years.
Take Care, #StayCurious & Enjoy your day......
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