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Going Home For The Holidays : Linking Families And Traditions

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Tuesday December 1, 2009

By Cookie Steponaitis

   Susan Griffin is excited about going home for the holidays and when she disembarks the airplane in Denver in early December she will not be traveling alone. She will have in her bag the stories of her ancestors and their holiday traditions that will be coming home for the first time in over a century. Susan is captivated by the connections of New England to the history of the nation and began her own personal holiday journey by studying her own heritage. She found that her Denver roots traced back to Vermont, Massachusetts and finally across the ocean to England and France. When Susan and her mother sit down to share their Christmas dinner she will introduce her to ten generations of ancestors on her side and over twenty-five generations on her father’s side, who came to the shores of America, helped settle the colonies, fought in the American Revolution and moved west to become one of the founding families of Denver. While learning their stories Susan stumbled upon other treasures, including family traditions involving the holidays. On both sides of the family, “Christmas exchanging was a celebration,” she remarked. “The entire extended family would gather sometime in November for a meal, and to exchange names. Then the group would gather together again in December for their gift exchange and sharing of food. Everyone would bring a dish and the laughter would just fill the rooms.” Sue went on to talk about being saddened that those types of gatherings are no longer the norm for the family since they are scattered by geography and many of the elders have passed. She hopes to pass on to each of her children a look back at the path her family has taken each generation by documenting the chronology of her family’s journey through time.

    Irene Thomas looks to a Valentine’s Day tradition that stands out in her mind for its importance and value. “Everyone in the one room school would make Valentines for each other,” she shared. “We would make them for the parents and the community. We made them out of construction paper and little bits of lace. We would take a huge box and create a Valentine Mailbox as well. Inside there we would place the collection of Valentines. One lucky person was chosen as the mailman and they would deliver them to the people. Everyone was so amazed to get a Valentine and the surprise was the best part of the day. That smile and enjoyment I remember to this day. It was not hard to accomplish and it really made the day for people.”

    The community atmosphere of one-room schools included decorating for the holidays. “We would have two white sheets sewn together and we would draw the nativity,” shared Ira native Pamela Taylor. “We would carefully draw all the parts of the Nativity scene in great detail which would take us a couple of days and the smaller kids would color everything in. Then closer to Christmas the town of Ira would gather at the Ira Town Hall. The program was created and put on by all the school children from the old one-room school. Some of us sang and those of us who played instruments would play holiday music and all of us presented the Christmas story. Everyone brought food and we shared Christmas carols. Every holiday we did something. The school and the town gathering together to celebrate is an indelible memory in my mind. It didn’t matter the season, or the holiday. We got together as a community to celebrate them all.”

    UVM junior Kim Worley brings yet another unique perspective to family holiday gatherings with her remarks on Historic Reenactments in New Hampshire, where all food and fixings was prepared in the 18th century tradition. “We would go every Thanksgiving,” Kim remembered. “Fort # 4 in New Hampshire would hold a meal for over a hundred people. While the public was welcome, most of us were in traditional costume and prepared the feast using all the old methods of cooking and preparation. It was quite an undertaking, but extremely special. People would tell stories, sing songs and play games from the time period. While nothing was wrapped in shiny paper there was a strong sense of family and community. Even when we moved to Vermont, we would continue to go back each year. It was stepping back in time, but it was about the people there and the times of celebration.”

    While the stories vary, they all share a common denominator of celebrating family, traditions and communities gathering together. In the past years there has been a trend to downplay or homogenize the traditions of holidays out of fear of legal litigation or offending others of different cultures. In a world where the pace of life drives many agendas that do not include family time or special gatherings, it is all the more crucial to take time to pause, gather and celebrate those you love and the heritages that you embrace. It does not have to be expensive or time consuming. Gather generations together and share stories because in those tales are embedded the traditions, histories and links that bind people to their heritage and to their nation. Gather, share and celebrate! The Valley Voice salutes the traditions of each family and wishes all health, blessings and peace in the year to come.

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