Are Your Family Traditions Important to You?

Do you have traditions FOMO after watching the royal funeral of Queen Elizabeth II? Are your family traditions important to you? My goodness, the Monarch has traditions galore! It’s making me feel lame in the traditions department.

I love traditions and wish, as a family, that we had more of them. Family traditions are what make every family unique. Some of them mimic superstitions, while others seem flat-out silly. However, they are actions that bind families together. Please keep in mind, as I have mentioned here before, our family fixates on food. Therefore I ask that you to kindly refrain from judging.

Family Memories

As a child, every party at the Kennedy/Quigley household included cheesy roll-up appetizers and a bowl of nuts that no one ever touched. There was also cheese (always Cracker Barrel), crackers, and celery filled with cream cheese, but the cheesy roll-ups were the highlight. These tasty morsels were fought over often; no matter how many there were, there was never enough.

Every Friday night, Nannie (my grandmother) and Aunt Jo hosted us (my parents, Danny, Kevin, Mary, and I) for dinner. Nannie made fish cakes and macaroni and cheese. She always made a hot dog for me since I would not eat fish. I was spoiled young!

Nannie also hosted us every other Tuesday for homemade spaghetti and meatballs. This meal was particularly noteworthy since Nannie was Irish (off the boat), yet her sauce (gravy) was fantastic! She obtained the recipe from our neighbor and never shared it with us. Hence, her fabulous sauce went with her to the grave.

Traditions Lost

To this day, I still do not understand why my mom didn’t ask Mrs. Desmoni for the recipe. Just thinking about Nannie’s spaghetti and meatballs makes my mouth water – 44 years later. Moreover, Nannie also took her Pineapple Cream Pie with her. Our every other Tuesday tradition was lost. What a shame!

Those are just a few memories I have from childhood that could be called traditions. They were things we did. Holidays were always at our house since we lived with Nannie and all of her children came to see her. There were cousins galore, and I have lovely memories of that time. Aunt Marilyn would lead us in Christmas Carols or God Bless America, depending on the holiday. I was so lucky!

Eventually, I got married, and Michael and I started our own family traditions. Thankfully, we strayed from strictly food traditions. Although, one of our first traditions was saying grace before a meal. So I guess we do have some food-related practices. (I say grace before every meal, even if I eat alone.)

“Tradition. Without our traditions,

Our lives would be as shaky as… as a fiddler on the roof!”

Lyric from the Play, Fiddler on the Roof

Queen Elizabeth II’s Funeral

Did you watch the royal funeral of Queen Elizabeth II? It was amazing! She planned every detail herself, refining the event on paper for the past two decades. There was tradition and symbolism everywhere. I learned there is royal funeral attire, a public and private mourning period, and the jewels on the Queen’s crown each have their own significance. Dignitaries were assigned seats in the church at her funeral to avoid putting any conflicting nations too close to one another.

The rules and regulations of Queen Elizabeth’s funeral were so vast they should probably teach classes on it at University. I found an article that discusses weird royal traditions that you might find interesting https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/25-weird-rules-about-being-a-british-royal/61/. Did you know royals must hold/wear purses on their left side? Read the article to find out why.

Our Family Traditions

According to the Oxford dictionary, tradition is “the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation.” Before writing this post, I didn’t think our family had many traditions. However, once I started reflecting on it, I was happy to recognize that we have some. Our traditions evolved once we had children. I suspect that has much to do with creating a legacy. While our tradition count falls way below the Royal Family, we have a few good ones. Here are some of our current traditions in no particular order:

• The special prayer we say after grace when it is only the four of us
• Cutting our Christmas tree down at Maple Row Farm in Connecticut
• Going to Aunt Mary’s on Christmas Eve
• Kevinite Weekend – getting together with Mom’s childhood friends every August
• Wearing red on New Year’s Day for good luck
• Dad making creamed onions for Thanksgiving Day
• Rederscheid Weekend – family summer get-together in Jamesport at Don and Barb’s house
• Mom and Aunt Mary making Christmas cookies together
• Mom attending N.Y. Mets Opening Day (sometimes everyone else, too)
• Making brownies on 9.11 for the Tracey’s and Shea’s
• Bringing/making food for friends when they lose a loved one

What traditions do you have? Are you planning any new ones for 2023? I will think about it and discuss it with my family to develop a few new ones. I believe it is good to expand your family traditions as it solidifies you as a unit.

Each Generation Changes

Unfortunately, I believe many family traditions are falling by the wayside. My mom always used fine china for the holidays; most young couples do not have or want fine china. Hummels, Lenox, and Royal Dalton figurines were coveted in our family, yet today, young folks aren’t interested in them. Our children’s generation focuses on simpler living and less “stuff.” The generation that follows our children will reap the benefits of their lifestyle while our children will be stuck cleaning out our attics and garages!

How important is it to have traditions? Does it really matter if a Royal wears a broach on their coat’s left or right side? I suppose the importance boils down to how you are raised. Traditions are comforting; I like it when we pass customs from one generation to the next. It must be the romantic in me!

As usual, kindly leave me a comment below if I have said anything that resonates with you. I would love for you to share some of your traditions with me.