Times change but traditions go on. People change, grow up, move away, pass on, and new people come along. Sometimes I think we create traditions for the sake of stability. Everything in life changes and we don’t have much control over most of it. But a tradition can go on in some form even after we die.

I often miss the many years of Christmas my family spent with my parents as my children grew up. But when I think back over my own lifetime there was always Christmas, Thanksgiving, other holidays, birthdays, and summer weekends that were spent with family and friends. No matter where we lived, traditions kept those bonds strong and allowed everyone to create new bonds as well.

Although this past Christmas 2015 was a little different, and not everyone could be there, it was still a joyful time. The funny thing is, I’m not really into traditions that much mostly because I love experiencing new and different things more than I like doing the same old thing. But this year I realized the value of traditions – the constant within the changes.