Nontraditional

Nontraditional is a nice way to describe my family. I did not grow up celebrating holidays or birthdays; we were Jehovah's Witnesses. I was that awkward little kid who didn't stand up to say the pledge of allegiance and who dutifully passed on birthday cupcakes at school. When my turn came around to show and tell what Santa had stuffed under the tree, "We don't believe in Santa or celebrate anything," I would say to my classmates who always got quiet and stared for a couple seconds too long.

Sometime around my tweens, my sister became a rock star and my family drifted away from our religion. A sad christmas tree, rescued from a yard sale, ushered the holidays into our lives. Glossy and sweet, like pages from catalogues, the new holiday experience lived up to my wildest childhood fantasies and I devoured all of the intoxicating commercialism of the season. It all rubbed my mom the wrong way, and I didn't care. Buying, hiding, wrapping, giving and getting stuff became the highlight of each year.

This lasted until I was old enough to get a job at the mall and lucky enough to work in the empty aisles of housewares where overstuffed shoppers would go to break wind. The hazy clouds from leftover turkey coupled with too many people making stressed out purchases on maxed out credit cards diluted the sweetness of the season for me. Finally there was an ultra nontraditional 'season' finale at my house which brought a solid conclusion to my rah for the holidays. I had had a good run with the mesmerizing lights and shiny wrapped boxes and I was done.

Then I had kids, my mom went back into the "Truth;" and the holidays became quiet days of enjoying the fact that everything had sort of shut off. Since we have been back in Colorado, we have enjoyed the traditional turkey dinner with my family. Out of respect to my mom, we don't refer to the holiday at all. No wishing of happy anything or introspective toasts of all we are thankful for. As I joked with a friend, it's all of the food with none of the gratitude.

In reality, the gratitude is always flowing. That killer fall meal was just as good as a summer barbecue. We always have fun together and are aware of our good fortune. The best part is, that not labeling our get together takes away the pressure of creating the most memorable day. So, cheers to nontraditional and always being grateful for the momentum to keep rolling on.