In a world that constantly flourishes itself with new innovations and technological advances every day, human beings still crave to maintain some type of consistency in their life among all of the rapid changes. Usually, the way people choose to create this sense of regularity is by establishing traditions within their personal lives or adapting traditions from elder generations. Traditions range from special food dishes during holidays to small practices that are performed everyday. Although traditions are typically believed to remain consistent, change among them is inevitable as each new generation passes them down. Throughout the 20 years of my life, I have had the opportunity to be shown countless traditions, but there is one, “Family Sundays,” that has impacted my life greatly and has given me a certain perspective on the world.
“Family Sundays” was a tradition my parents created about the time my younger brother was born. It’s a tradition that I took part in until I moved to Portland for college because it required that every Sunday my brothers and I would spend the day with our parents doing a family activity. The activities would range from going on a hike to riding bikes to going to the movies. We’d usually do it right after we attended 8:00 a.m. mass and after my dad was able to watch one 10:00 a.m. football game. When I was growing up, especially during my prime teenager years, I’d whine and complain to my parents because I thought it was unfair that I wasn’t allowed to spend Sundays with friends. It wasn’t until I left for college that I understood their reasoning for imposing this tradition and the values that it set forth. My parents explained that the purpose of “Family Sundays” is so that my brothers and I could have stronger relationships with each other and with them. My parents wanted us to be able to feel comfortable communicating with them and hanging out with them. They wanted us to value family time because they realized that life is too short to not take advantage of every moment we have with our loved ones. See, my parents came from really hard lives. My dad’s parents had to work three jobs in order to provide food and shelter for eight children. On the other side, my mom lost her father when she was four, and my grandmother had to work unimaginable hours to provide for seven children. Both of my parents have told me constantly that they strongly enforce this tradition because they said we would never know what the future held in store for us. Now that I look back, I really appreciate that they established this tradition for my brothers and I because I’ve come to appreciate my family much more, even if the tradition has had to undergo a few changes.
As I mentioned earlier, this tradition has had to change significantly because I left Las Vegas to go to college in Portland. My family and I definitely had to learn to adapt to the change. At first, it was very hard for me to learn to spend more time on my own and less time with my family. I got really homesick the first few weeks of school. I spent a good amount of nights crying myself to bed because I just felt so empty without them. The only solution we were ultimately able to come up with was that every Sunday I’d dedicate two hours to FaceTime with my brothers and parents. They still carry on with their usual activity in addition to these two hours. After a few weeks, my transition to independence became easier. I am still able to maintain a strong connection with my parents, even if I’m 720 miles away from home. Of course, during the holidays, I go home and still partake in “Family Sundays.” Personally, I believe I grew up having more respect for my parents because of this tradition. I grew up never feeling lonely or isolated because I knew I could always talk to one of them. In today’s society, I do feel that a lot of teenagers and young adults lack the comfort of always having someone around. I think it definitely has contributed to the higher frequency of depression and suicide among people of my age group. It’s unfortunate because I couldn’t imagine not having the strong relationships that I have with my family. In the future, I’m really hoping to continue this tradition with my own children and husband. The values and perspective that this tradition has given me have made my development as a person be easier. After coming to college, I’ve been able to talk to friends and other students about how they were raised, and have decided that I wouldn’t want to change this tradition. I really do believe that what my parents did was the best way to bring a family together in order to have a bond that cannot be broken on any level.
Traditions certainly have many different purposes depending on where one comes from. Traditions can be put into place to preserve religious beliefs or just something that randomly develops over time. Although traditions tend to remain constant, Himes is correct in saying that these traditions are constantly shifting as each generation takes hold of it. In order for them to continue into the future generations, it is important that they make these changes. Himes' interpretation of traditions has matched my own personal experiences with traditions in that they have had to adjust with every significant life event. “Family Sundays” is one of many traditions that have slowly began to shift as I have gotten older, but ultimately the true value that it holds has remained very much the same. I still appreciate the tradition and am wishful to have it in my family when I do have one. “Family Sundays” is a tradition. It is a shifting and changing tradition, but I do believe it is a tradition that is everlasting.
