Guest Post: Traditions and Transitions…

Hi y’all. For those who don’t already know me, my name is Angel and I’m a social worker in Boise, Idaho. For reference for this post, I think it’s important for you to know that I’m 25 years old, and engaged to be married this coming February.

In general I’d say I’m a very chipper individual. I’m enthusiastic and love to anticipate an upcoming event. This however is not the case for Christmas. I’m one of those people that complain about seeing Christmas lights go up before Thanksgiving. I’m the person who puts in a CD in the car when I start hearing Christmas music on the radio. I’m the odd duck who watched “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and thought to myself “well he has a point”. My best friend has even called me “Scrooge” once or twice around the holidays.

That being said, I don’t hate Christmas. On the contrary I really do enjoy the holi-DAY. Like most families, I grew up with my own set of traditions. My favorite was what took place on Christmas mornings. My mother had set a strict policy that my brother and I were not allowed to wake her up before 6 am. And if we did opt to wake her up, we need to have coffee in hand for her, made to her specifications. In the early years it was just my older brother and me. We wouldn’t fall asleep until maybe 12 or 1 am because we were so excited. We would get up promptly at 5 am, tiptoe to the living room and rummage through our stockings. Then we would TRY to put back the stocking just as we found it. But no one can stuff a stocking like my mama. We would brew the coffee at 5:30 and by 5:55 we would be standing over our mom with her coffee. We’d stare at the red glow of her alarm clock on the night stand next to her bed and watch in agony as the minutes ticked by. At 6 am we breathed out a long anticipated “MERRY CHRISTMAS!” True to her word, mom would sit up without complaint, take her coffee, and join us in the living room to open presents.

As the years rolled by, we’ve added step-siblings into the tradition. When my brother and sister in-law had their own two kids, they too joined in. These last 3 years in Idaho we’ve all stayed over at my mom’s house and between step/siblings/in-laws, and niece and nephew, there were a total of 7 of us digging thought our stockings at 5 am.

I look forward to Christmas this year. Like every year, tradition will repeat itself and there will probably be 7 of us again. However this year I do expect some melancholy to settle in. Lord willing, this will be the last Christmas I spend with my family as an unmarried woman. My fiancé and I already decided that in future holidays we will rotate between families. His family lives in Washington. So one year my family will have us for Thanksgiving and the next year Christmas, and visa versa for his family. This transition I know will continue to expand in the future when we have kids of our own.

This realization has come with a swirl of emotions and questions. What will that first Christmas be like in Washington? Will I be more excited for the new event, or nostalgic over not being with my family, rummaging through stockings at 5 am? Will my fiancé and I begin traditions of our own? If so what will they be? What will they look like?

No matter what, come Christmas day I just hope that I stay grateful. Grateful that I have 2 places that are jealous for my presence. Grateful that I have future in-laws that love me want me to join in on their own family traditions. Grateful to have a fiancé that will want to create traditions with me. Grateful that no matter where I am, my mom will always make sure that when I come home, I will have a stocking to rummage through.