Winter Traditions – Secret Subject Swap

Welcome to a Secret Subject Swap. This month 6 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts.

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts.  Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

Your “Secret Subject” is:

The perfect winter tradition.

It was submitted by: https://hoohaa.com/

Thank you! It’s so funny because lately I’ve been thinking a lot about holiday traditions and I’m hoping this year to be able to create some for our family. Sure, we had traditions as kids that we really loved. Like NEVER waiting until Christmas Day to open our presents!

That’s right no Santa Claus in our house. We knew that it was provided by our dad and that was okay. Momma was never much of a cook (we had that in common at least!) so a big meal wasn’t on the agenda although she always made a turkey and homemade dressing on actual Christmas Day, our big family gathering was on Christmas Eve and our traditional dinner was luncheon meat and chips and dips! I told you she wasn’t a very good cook! But we loved it! We didn’t have any traditions from years past because there was no-one to celebrate with so my parents created their own. Daddy bought Christmas, my 4 brothers and assorted spouses would be there and their children if any and that was it.

You see my parents were older when I was born, #4 out of 5, they were both in their late thirties. Both grandfathers and one grandmother died before I was born and the one I had left lived 300 miles away and died when I was 9. So I say her about 9 times as we would take our vacation there every year. I loved her dearly and would have loved to have been able to know her better as a woman instead of just a loving grandmother. She was always so fascinating to me as she was a Cherokee Indian and lived from the Earth. They hunted or grew everything they needed. They’d sell the extras and live on the scraps that would provide.

My father’s mother died when he was only 4 years old. My father was put into an orphanage and was taken in by a couple who needed help running their farm. He lived a very hard life with very strict rules and always knowing they were doing him a “favor”. He left there in the 9th grade. He quit school got a job and earned a living until a mutual friend introduced them and that was it. My dad treated my mother like a Queen and momma loved daddy in her way. She always stood by him, when he was sick she took care of him, but after he died she became bitter that he “allowed” himself to die by not taking better care of himself.

I’ve gotten off-topic though, so let me go back. 10 years ago we moved from KY to SC so things changed again. Momma lived with me and everyone would gather at my house. Now my own family has grown and they finally have all of my focus. They’ve had to take a back seat to momma for the last decade because momma had to come first as she couldn’t do for herself and each Christmas could have been the last.

Throughout those 10 years, Christmas Day would begin at 4 am. I see my husband and daughter off and keep the kids for the day. They drive to Northern Kentucky 6 1/2 hours each way to pick up my niece and bring her home for the holidays. She has been a member of our family since she was 4 days old and we love her dearly. They get home about 4 or 5 (depending on traffic) we open gifts and have dinner.

In the last two years, though, we’ve finally started a tradition that will withstand the test of time. My niece is old enough to drive and busy in her own life so she comes later, but not this year.  I guess because of this, Christmas isn’t one of my favorite holidays. Don’t get me wrong I love to shop for others, probably a little too much honestly. When you’re in the middle economically you have to plan the holidays with stealth and it can become stressful as the family grows, but the family is growing and we’re thrilled about that.

My daughter on the other hand LOVES Christmas. She has had her house decorated since the day after Halloween so I let her have it. She is totally in charge of the family get-together. She enjoys it and I have found that I enjoy the holiday so much more.  We get up and head to her house, open gifts, and then spend time together as my daughter cooks and I become her helper. Being together means so much more these days since we spend so much time alone. The kids are lonely as are we so being together on one day means so much more this year. We have a lot to be thankful for but this year it seems much more profound.

Thanksgiving is my holiday and I get to do it as I want. This year, I was lucky enough to have both of my daughters here which haven’t happened since they were kids. With the addition of a wonderful son-in-law and my new baby granddaughter Layla whom we adore. This year has been a bad one but I have to say that in our house Thanksgiving Day was the best one we’ve ever had. The only sad part was that our boy wasn’t here, but it was amazing and I think I’m still high from it today!

I’ve been told and agree that I am what you would call an empath. When someone else hurts I feel it as if it were happening to me. Mostly emotionally, but sometimes in certain situations physically. Doesn’t matter if it’s a movie, news, life. It’s exhausting and where my anxiety and depression comes from. In April, I had to double those anti-depressants because it hurt so much for all that was going on in our world. You see I see the world through the TV and this computer and that’s it. My only view since this all started was my monthly trip to Walmart and these few days I get with my family.

I’ve cried as I’ve watched people die needlessly, the hatred that is so prevalent and the suffering that is happening all around. Sometimes it manifests physically (I have constant stomach issues because of my nerves). So as we happily wave this year goodbye I have to have gratitude for those few bright spots throughout the year that have gotten us through in one piece.

My hope for you is the same for me and for everyone. I pray for healing, for peace, for honesty, for respect, for fairness, and more than anything for love.

When I was born

Baking In A Tornado                 https://www.BakingInATornado.com

A ‘lil HooHaa                            https://hoohaa.com/

Climaxed                              https://climaxedtheblog.blogspot.com

Part-time Working Hockey Mom         https://thethreegerbers.blogspot.com/

The Crazy Mama Llama               https://crazymamallama.blogspot.com/

• Author
• Recent Posts

Ready to go?

Rena McDaniel

Web Designer | Wanderer | Storyteller at Wandering Web Designer | The Blogging 911

I’m Rena and I’m a 50-year-old child in an old woman’s body. I love to take long road trips, building websites & writing stories about my adventures or even the latest trip to the grocery store. I’m a wife of 29 years, a mom and a grandma and I run my own web design/maintain/troubleshooting business called The Blogging 911. When I’m not creating CSS, or poured into the passenger seat of our car, you will find me happily playing with my grandkids, reading a book, or wrapped around a cheeseburger! Are you ready to hit the road?

Ready to go?

Latest posts by Rena McDaniel (see all)

• A Story As Old As Time Pt. 20 - January 15, 2021
• Are Soul Mates Real? Secret Subject Swap - January 8, 2021
• A Story As Old As Time Pt. 19 - December 11, 2020