A FAMILY AFFAIR

If you've ever had a family quarrel, it's like a split in the skin that won't heal. But family is what you make it, and the due respect you give to keeping it a cohesive unit. It is made strong not by the number of heads counted at the dinner table, but by the traditions family members create, the memories you share, the love you show one another, and by the hopes for the future you have as individuals and as a family unit.

To that end, I wanted to create a family tradition that I hope will be carried on long after I'm gone. I call it Celebrate A Life, where we gather each year to celebrate the lives of those who have passed on before us. But it's not like you think. We don't dwell on the sad, but revel in the happy!

This year, the 5th year we've had it, it became a true family affair (where I didn't have to do everything myself.) A lot can happen in 5 years!
One nephew put together a DVD of family Christmas's past when the eight of us siblings gathered with our young families, my mother was still alive, and people were only on their first or second marriages. A lot can happen in 25 years!

Sarge grilled all the meat, EVERYone brought their favorite dish to share; another nephew, ChrisWalkerPhotography.com, took family portraits, while my daughter (you've seen her work here) took the candid pics. My oldest brother gave up his DNA to make this day happen (for lineage, not for Jerry Springer), while I gave the DNA presentation. Yet another brother -- we call him the crypt keeper, because he has custody of all Mommy's old family photos -- brought some of those old family photos, and we played a game called, Who's-in-that-old-picture? It's hilarious when people don't even recognize themselves. A lot can happen in 60 years!

Check out the slideshow on the sidebar. Four generations were in attendance, and it was the best time ever! Knock Number 138 off my Bucket List, Start a Family Tradition. A lot can happen in 100 years!

Have you ever created a family tradition? Tell us about it!