Still catching up with my posts, this was on Sunday just gone where we wished a Happy Birthday to my little bro! When it’s someone’s birthday in our family we have what we call a ‘curry bash’, and on this occasion there was an added surprise of a Lego-themed birthday cake that I stayed up very late to bake and decorate last week! I’m not sure where the phrase ‘curry bash’ came from – maybe we made it up – but it is one of the little family traditions we enjoy.
One the whole I think traditions are a good thing; they punctuate life on a regular basis and give us comfort and familiarity doing the same thing with the same people. We are, after all, creatures of habit. Another family tradition was to meet at my sister’s house on Christmas Eve, we did this for over 20 years starting when her children were little. She and her husband chose a different country each year and we had a themed celebration, each part of the family bringing/making food from that country, finishing with a Secret Santa. The gathering included extended family, and at one point there were over 20 of us.
Since COVID, during which our mum passed away, the nieces moved into their own homes and some of my brother-in-law’s family moved out of the area, this tradition has ceased and last Christmas I felt sad thinking that Christmas Eve for our family would never be the same again. For most people, dealing with change is challenging – especially when it’s forced upon us, and it takes time to adjust and reset. For anyone struggling with change at the moment, while things may be hard just now you will get through it. Take one day at a time, try to make considered decisions – and ask for help if you need it.
Change is not always a bad thing as it can provide scope for new opportunities and to start new traditions. At my dad’s suggestion, last Christmas the five of us (in the photo) plus my nieces and their boyfriends went out for Christmas lunch on the 23rd. It was not quite Christmas Eve but turned out to be a lovely occasion. It involved a new twist on Secret Santa involving a pack of playing cards which was great fun! Whether this turns out to be a new Christmas tradition only time will tell, but it helped to cheer me up and I now look back with fondness on what used to be instead of sadness.
Elizabeth Mooney 