For Gals by G.A.L.S.: Falling Back to Fall

Questioning Tradition

By Myhriah Young Tradition. When I say this word, what do you see? What feelings does it bring up? Good? Bad? For me, there was a time when this word brought up a lot of anxiety. Let me back up a bit and tell you about the journey our family has had when it comes to family traditions.

As a teenaged mom, I had a lot of people just telling me what to do. I get it. No one thought I knew what I was doing. From my family to the doctors, to society.

So, it should be no surprise that when it came to doing the things my family did, we were told what we were doing when to be there, and just be expected to fall in line, no questions asked.

My husband and I were already rebels. We had people telling us we wouldn’t make it in our marriage. There were even polls on how long we would last! Our answer was, “Well, watch us!” Insert sassy snap. We had a few large turning points in our lives and we finally asked ourselves: “Why are we doing this?” One of the most memorable moments of change was with our little kids one Holiday Season. It was Christmas week. We have a lot of extended families that live in our town. Of course, none of them wanted to celebrate together, BUT, everyone wanted to see the grandbabies. For a few years, we would make our rounds to see everyone.

This particular year, with two children in tow, Christmas day was EXHAUSTING! We were scheduled to be at several different homes in one day to celebrate.