For Tradition’s Sake

One of the things that makes holidays and family gatherings special to a lot of us is tradition. At least in my family, we like to go to the same family member’s house for a particular holiday and we like to see the same yummy things on the menu. Even down to the same china and silverware on the table, we do love our traditions. Tradition brings back thoughts of childhood, of happy times, good memories of those who have gone on, all of which can be very comforting.

Recently my husband and I did the “downsizing” thing which we knew would throw our family’s customary ways of doing things into a loop. How would the rest of the family react at the holidays? How would my husband and I ourselves feel about it when it came time to sit down to that big family meal in a totally different place?

Sometimes it’s the little things that bring all the pieces together. The cup and saucer pictured here originally belonged to my father’s sister, my Aunt Alice. She used these dishes every Thanksgiving during my childhood. Though I’m pretty sure the set isn’t wildly valuable as a collector’s item, it’s very special to me. At about the same time I inherited the set, I also inherited the hosting of the big Thanksgiving family dinner. The dishes have never seen the inside of a dishwasher, so you can probably imagine the back-spasms I sometimes experience while hand washing these babies late at night after days of house cleaning and a couple of days of standing, preparing and then serving everyone’s different favorite recipes. But the extra work is completely worth it to me … for tradition’s sake.

And for the record, even though we were in a new place this past Thanksgiving … I think all of us being together and keeping some traditions alive made the holiday just as memorable.

Original photo taken November of 2010 with the Nikon D300 and the 105mm Nikkor Macro / Micro lens. Adjusted in Photoshop CS4, 5 and 6 (don’t ask) … then off to Corel Painter for a complete digital hand-painting. My thanks to Karen Burns for the hint of texture and to her and to John Lowther for the excellent brushes.

*****

As ever, clicking the image takes you to my website where the resolution is crisper and the watermark is duller.  Don’t let those pesky watermarks put you off … they’ll never appear on any purchased items.