Family Day

Dear Elijah,

I write this post in June because every day is Family Day but our family usually celebrates a special day together sometime in December. Our Family Day celebration originated because growing up my family didn’t celebrate holidays. We didn’t have Christmas or Easter. Santa didn’t visit my house nor did the Easter Bunny. We didn’t celebrate Kwanza or anything similar. To be completely honest I was a tad bit jealous of my cousins, who had Christmas trees, enjoyed Christmas carols, stockings, mistle toe, etc. To be fair my aunts did go out of their way to make sure we were included so Santa did give me some presents throughout the years and the Easter Bunny did hit up our house once in a while. I liked the idea of “Secret Santa” and making Christmas cookies. At 10 years old I wondered why our family didn’t have holiday traditions. I’m not exactly sure how the conversation went but I talked to your grandma and Papa and convinced them that we should have a holiday that we call Family Day. I really just craved having a family tradition and didn’t understand why we couldn’t celebrate. I now know that it isn’t that we can’t celebrate; it is what we celebrate that matters. That first year I remember mostly the presents. Grandma wrapped up a super-sized candy cane and I got a pair of Reebok tennis shoes that I thought were super cool along with puzzles and some other small gifts. In the years that followed the tradition became more meaningful for me because it was special to our family. I no longer wish I had a Christmas tree and don’t desire to have your picture taken with Santa Clause. It became a time where we would sit down to a home cooked meal which happened rarely in our house. It was a time for playing games together and enjoying each other without distractions of TV, computer or papa having to rush off to work. It became less and less about presents and more about the time we spent together. I’m thankful we don’t submit to all the commercialized stuff that some people do. I don’t feel pressure to spend more than I have because it’s more about sharing what we can to build our family up rather than giving all we have and depleting our energy until we have no more to give. Last year grandma made a wonderful meal of turkey, potatoes and stuffing. We played Monopoly and papa won. Our family gave Grandma & Papa and auntie calendars filled with family pictures as a gift along with some homemade things and we made a special video where everyone in our family said a special message to you since you were still in my belly and not yet able to enjoy our Family Day. It may be many years before you understand what Family Day is and what momma means to share with you on that day. It’s a day where we try to be present; we make sure family comes first on that day, as we should every day. We remember to do simple things together because simple things are all we need to be a family. We sometimes give gifts but it’s only because we mean to give gifts all the time but really the only gift required is that you show up and give some attention to the people who mean the most to you in this world.You may someday choose to celebrate holidays other than family day and that will be your choice but you will always celebrate your family. I look forward to celebrating our family with you.

Love,

Momma