Traditions

My family has hundreds, if not thousands, of special traditions.  We can't help it.  First of all, we all love making things extra special.  Secondly, my dad was a Marine (yes, I know...once a Marine, always a Marine...but since Dad died last year, it's strange for me to say that he is a Marine).  Dad was gone a lot.  He missed birthdays.  He missed holidays.  So we incorporated traditions to make those times that he was home extra extra special.  We made a big deal of the "minor" holidays like Valentine's Day and St Patrick's Day.  We have special menus for each holiday that don't change.  Ever.

For instance, Halloween traditions include carving jack-o-lanterns the day before Halloween.  Growing up I thought that was pretty mean of my mom, but now I understand that there was a method to her madness: pumpkins can rot pretty quickly if you're not careful!  We always have chili, with shredded cheese and fritos on top, for Halloween dinner.  We always eat dinner before we're allowed to go trick-or-treating.  And we don't trick-or-treat until it's dark.  Of course, now that I have a Little Man of my own, that last "rule" might have to be altered slightly, since I like to have him in bed by 8 or 8:30!  The point is, you don't mess with that Halloween chili!

As we enter the holiday season, I'll be sharing more family traditions, but in the meantime, I want to share one last favorite custom of ours:  the Red Plate.  Have you heard of it?  Growing up, you got to eat off the Red Plate on your birthday, after a stellar report card, following a remarkable sporting event, or any other occasion that was extra special and deserved recognition.  I'm not sure how the tradition began (I'll have to ask my mom) because neither of my parents grew up with this tradition, but somewhere along the way my mom received a Red Plate, and I remember it making an appearance since my littlest little girl days.

You can imagine how thrilled I was, then, when my grandparents gave Hubs and me a Red Plate of our very own as an engagement present!  I was so glad that they knew how important that tradition was to me as a kid and how upset I was since I'd never seen one in a store and didn't think I'd ever have a Red Plate on which to serve my own children their birthday dinners!  What I didn't know what that the store where my mama works sells these fabulous plates, so Mama A made sure I'd get my red plate!  And guess what?  My mom's red plate cracked after nearly 30 years of special occasions, and she needed a new one too.  And guess what else, the Red Plate is my go-to gift for wedding gifts for my closest family and friends...it's such a special and personal gift to pass on to those you love the most!