Hi All —
Gabi here.
My younger son (9) was learning about traditions in school, which has prompted all sorts of memories. I am working on a longer manuscript, it’s funny the way some of these details work their way into stories.
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Growing up, December and early January were always a busy. Both my brother and I have December birthdays, and my father’s is in early January. We celebrated Christmas two times – once with extended family and once with immediate family. Then we celebrated Three Kings Day thanks to my Mexican heritage, and Russian Orthodox Christmas thanks to my Slovakian heritage. I would put my shoes out and collect chocolate coins and small gifts. For Russian Orthodox Christmas, we’d drive through the mountains to Winder and go to a church service that was in a language that was not English. We would eat pirogies that my aunties made — prune, sauerkraut, potato — and they would send us home with bags of leftovers to be frozen and enjoyed later.
I am very proud of my coal-mining Slovakian relatives, who came to this country with very little. When my grandfather, who lived with Alzheimer’s for a long time, died, it was the language of his childhood that he reverted to. He would sing songs to himself that his mother once sang to him.
I am also very proud of my Mexican relatives, who were born to tell stories and play cards and fold newspapers into toy boats, and to watch old westerns while we ate vanilla ice cream with salted peanuts and, when I got older, sipped tequila. My Abuelita is ninety-seven. The other day, she called me on my birthday and sang “Las Mañanitas.” I let it go to voicemail because there are very few things in this world better than hearing your grandmother sing to you on your birthday and I’d like to make sure I have it for years to come.
I come from a large family and traditions cannot be separated from family coming together. I am grateful for the time I had with my aunties and uncles and grandparents. I am grateful for the time I continue to have here, on this earth, and in this moment. I am grateful for my old and new friends. I am grateful for my loved ones near and far.
It is a gratitude I feel in my bones.
What a gift this all is.
If you are up for sharing, I’d love to hear about your traditions – ones you still celebrate and ones that have slipped away.
See you in 2026,
-Gabi
Wow, you are certainly rich with tradition! I also have Slovakian blood. Our only real tradition is Friday Thanksgiving. Let everybody go to their different families on Thursday and then come to our house on Friday.
Maybe we should have a pierogi party, Matt! I love a Friday Thanksgiving afterparty- the real question is, what do you eat?
That was beautiful. I have had the opportunity to travel to Italy over a dozen times to visit with my Italian family. The gatherings every single time for our appearances to celebrate our visits has remained as some of my most precious memories.
I love Italy! I studied there for a year, lived with a retired couple, and then stayed on to nanny for a family. I think about my time there a lot and how fortunate I was to have that experience. What a special experience to get to visit family there.
When we were old enough to know parents, not Santa, filled our stockings, my brother, sister, and I secretly bought and wrapped small gifts and filled stockings for them.
Kate
I love this, Kate. There were five of us kids and my mom always tried to balance gifts. One year, she realized she bought my baby brother one big/expensive gift but when we were opening presents, she realized one big gift doesn’t matter when everyone else has lots of little ones. So she went out to buy a bunch of small things the next day and wrapped them and threw them behind the barn and said, “Santa must have dropped them.” FOR YEARS neighborhood kids would look for presents Santa might have dropped.
Gabi, my heritage is German. The tree was put up & decorated on Christmas Eve after my 2 sisters and I were asleep. I carried on that tradition for my 2 sons until they got old enough to help! My mother always baked amazing stollen, Spritz cookies, plus many others. In later years after recovering from WWII shortages, our relatives in Germany would send us all kinds of baked goodies (my father’s family were and are bakers.) Thanks for stimulating me to recall such good memories.
Hi Alice!! Whoa! I love the idea of getting baked goods in the mail from family. I think a lot about how hard it is for people to leave a place that is familiar, to separate from customs and traditions, and to start over. A box of cookies would be such a welcome reminder of home. (A little like Proust’s madeleines, I think …)
What wonderful memories. Thank you so much for sharing.
I love this! My mother’s family is French/Italian. I remember Yule Logs (real ones in fireplaces) and the Feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve. My dad’s family is German, Santa brought the tree on Christmas Eve (I have never figured out the logistics of the two Christmas Eve traditions, I think my parents may have been magical) and we had to find the pickle ornament to get a special present. As for pirogies, I don’t know where they came from but my parents used to make them together. Potato and sauerkraut together were my favs.
Thanks for reminding me about the pickle.
We have a pickle ornament! Now I understand what to do with it. New tradition unlocked. And now I’m starting to think we should have a pierogi party. Mind BLOWN that you can combine flavors!!