Holidays are always one of the best times of the year. Everything is festive and decorative. It generally puts people in a good mood especially after the hustle and bustle of all the preparation is done. You can tell a holiday is approaching; it’s like that saying that the feeling is in the air.

After stressing about buying everything, and usually buying a little too much, the fun of celebrating actually starts. Growing up gives each of us a new outlook on holidays, though.

As a kid, the holidays were the biggest things to look forward to all year because of the breaks from school, all the arts and crafts we did that we couldn’t wait to take home to our parents and the gifts that were made like a flower pot for Mother’s Day. We also can’t forget the feeling of being a grown up and buying our own presents from the school’s gift shop, then hiding them from snooping eyes for a few weeks. There was so much fun to be had.

The excitement is still there as we get older, but we realize how special those young holidays were. We understand more about the word “tradition.” We saw them before, but now we truly know what they mean.

Family traditions differ from family to family, making each one special. As kids, we knew they were special because we saw them happen before our eyes. Things like grandma humming in the kitchen while making her special homemade pie filling or her famous stuffing or the glass of onions that was always bought and placed on the table, even though Grandpa was the only one who seemed to like and eat them. Then we fast forward years and the pie filling becomes only a recipe and the onions on the table stay untouched. Because it is a tradition, it continues to happen.

We might think we are too old to make the countdown chains or do the Easter egg hunt, but we appreciate them. We enjoy seeing the younger kids get to enjoy them too.

Over the years, we miss those who sadly can’t be there with us and we welcome those who can. We appreciate the new young faces among the crowd to tell all of the funny stories to and get them howling with laughter just like we used to when we were their age -- and still do from time to time. We learn how to do all the preparation that has to be done the night before like cutting the vegetables, boiling the eggs and not forgetting to put out the onions.

We might be getting older, but the holidays remain special. They are some of the favorite memories a person can have. You'll always have the good times with loved ones and the stories to share later on down the road. You have traditions to pass along and continue, and you have traditions to make.