Bad Tradition or Good Tradition?

Christmas/ Flu Season

Well, I have to say that this has been a very difficult Christmas season for me.  Mostly because both my 6 year old son and I were sick with the flu during the whole thing.  Every part of my body ached all of the week of Christmas.  My only friends seemed to be the cough drops and the Kleenex box.  Even so, we traveled up to my husband’s family in MN.  I selfishly knew in my heart that his mom would take care of the cooking and the kids so that I could rest.

As you may know, it is very difficult to be positive when you are sick.  Even during the holidays.  When we arrived, I was greeted with hugs and laughter but also a bed that didn’t feel quite right and foods that didn’t fit my usual diet.  I wondered if I had made a bad decision to leave my own home with my own food and my own bed.  These thoughts continued as I realized how difficult it was for me to participate in any of the activities based on my level of energy and how often I was coughing for the full five days we were there.

Two Different Views

On Christmas Eve, there was everything from lutefisk to fruit soup.  A Scandinavian feast fit for tradition, but not necessarily fitness.  On Christmas Day, we opened the presents all at once which was much different from my own family tradition of going one person at a time as we sat for hours laughing and talking about each gift.  My heart ached for my own family memories and my mom’s bedside care at this sickly moment in my life.

The next day, Erik joined me on the couch with a child-like spirit and explained how overjoyed he was that his mom had made every single dish he could think of from his past Christmas memories.  Everything from rice pudding to cobbler for breakfast.  He explained that Christmas morning was just how he remembered it with gifts all at once so they could focus on brunch together.

My Mistake

It only took me a second to realize how terribly self-centered my thoughts had been.  We hadn’t spent Christmas with Erik’s family in a long time and now that we had, it was everything the man I loved could have dreamed it would be.  It didn’t matter that the spread was a little more rich than I usually put out.  It didn’t matter if the gift opening imitated my family memories or not.  What mattered was that my husband saw just how much time and care had been put into every detail of this Christmas by his loving mother.

My New Viewpoint

Even as sick as I was, there was no excuse for how I had previously viewed my experience here.  It brought such a smile to my face to see Erik so happy and at peace.  I grabbed onto his joy, closed my eyes and began to see the past few days in such a different way.  Our daughter, who never wants to cook, had spent many gleeful hours with Gramma in the kitchen rolling lefsa and preparing rice pudding for Christmas dinner.  Erik’s dad took the time, after the gifts had been opened, to put the new hockey game and the airplane model together with his grandson.  Also, I remembered the gluten free, sugar free banana bread that had been made just for me the morning after we arrived.

As you look back over the past few weeks with your family, I’m sure there will be good memories and not so good memories.  I challenge you to take the time to focus on the tradition and love behind as many as you can and you’ll be blessed, even if you can still barely speak because of that winter cold hanging on.