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Every family regardless of what religious orientation, cultural society, or regional location have their own family traditions whether they realize it or not. Being like so many other families, my own family is no different. They vary from Sunday afternoon dinners to Christmas tree decorating. My favorite tradition of all though is one that brings the past and the present together in a way that allows our family to celebrate those we have treasured in the past that are no longer with us along with those in our lives today that we treasure.

On the first day of November, we build our Thanksgiving Tree. What is a Thanksgiving Tree? It is our way to celebrate gratitude we have in ourlives that sometimes goes unnoticed and taken for granted. We take a trek into the woods and find a branch that has fallen to the ground and bring it into the house. Using a large plastic pot filled with small stone we 'plant' the tree. After the dinner on the first Sunday of November, we gather together to cut out the leaves for our tree. They have varied from intricate oak leaves to simple post it note leaves. During the course of the month, each one of the members of our family add 'leaves' to the bare branches. Each leaf has a name on it of someone that we are grateful for in our lives, whether they are still apart of our lives or have passed away. By the end of the month there is no bare spots on the branches. Leaves ontop of leaves cover the bark, some dangling from pieces of yarn or paperclips. The tradition leaves no doubt in any one's minds how grateful we should be for the people in our lives.

This is also leads us into the holiday season with a feeling of it is the people in our lives that are important not the material things that we have. My oldest no longer living at home and overseas with the military, sent her names via email this year still wanting to participate in this family tradition.

We have many tradtions from the food we eat on Christmas Eve to what we do for July 4th. They not only offer special times for the family to build their memories with, they connect us with each other and the world we live in - which I believe is the greatest gift received from any family tradition.

Learn more about this author, Reverend Ashira Goddard.
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