Tradition
As far back as I can remember, I watched the Macy’s
Thanksgiving Day Parade. My great grandmother lived with us and we shared a
love for the parade. She would wake me up in time to eat breakfast and we would
make our way to our living room to tune in to NBC to enjoy the festivities.
During the 1970s, there was no cable TV, no remote control, and no DVR. Live
telecasts were not replayed, so if you missed a production such as the Macy’s
parade, you were out of luck seeing it again for an entire year. So, I was up and
ready by show time at 9A.M.! To me, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is THE
parade of all parades. It is tradition. When Santa makes his appearance at the
end of the parade, for me, it felt like Christmas had been ushered in. In
little girl anticipation, I waited excitingly for the moment when Santa had
officially arrived.
Here we are in the present, 2015, the age of technology. The
age where DVRs allow us to watch whatever we want to watch whenever we choose
to watch it. We can catch some videos and such on YouTube and stream TV shows
via our laptops, tablets, or phones. We have come a long way since my childhood
years of the 1970s and yet have we really come so far? Guess what I still want
to watch on Thanksgiving morning? Yep, you’ve got it! I still want to watch the
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on live TV! Some things have changed. I don’t
get the little girl excitement that I felt during my childhood years when it
felt like an event to me. And, I don’t wait in anticipation for Santa’s
appearance at the end of the parade, but I still love the parade. As I share
this story it reminds me that tradition is the key that connects us to our past
and links us to the future. A tradition that started so long ago for me has
continued my entire adult life. As I watch the parade, I remember my great
grandma and all the wonderful aspects of knowing her. I remember that she made
Thanksgiving special with our love of watching the parade. She began a
traditional legacy that passed on to the next generation. I introduced my kids
to the parade as well and I wish I could say they all sit in anticipation as
the parade begins each and every year, but this is not true. However, because
we had traditions, they in return have created traditions with their own
families. Knowing tradition is a part of their lives, even if it isn’t the same
one that endears me, warms my heart!
As Thanksgiving rapidly approaches, think of your own holiday
ideas. Are there traditions already established within your family? What new
tradition could you start that might be carried on from generation to
generation?
No comments:
Post a Comment