Umpa lumpa

Growing up I had what I like to call "semi-traditions". These are the traditions that change every few years. When I was young I remember growing up having Thanksgiving at our place. My mom's family would be there and it never failed, something would go wrong and/or some kind of argument would happen. On Christmas eve, we would open all our presents and then in the morning we would wake up and open all the ones Santa would leave. We would spend Christmas at my grandmas house and have my dad's side of the family there. We eventually moved and those traditions changed. No more Thanksgiving dinners with my mom's family, Christams at grandmas wasn't the same and then my brother decided to come into this world on Christmas Eve. The opening of the presents changed, my sister and I now had to wait and Christmas. Christmas time now seemed to revolve around him. Actually everything seemed to revolve around him. The one thing I remember that has stuck through over all these changes were the watching of Christmas movies. We would watch all the Charlie Brown movies, Willy Wonka, A Christmas Story, and any others that would be on. Eventually we stopped watching movies together and time together started to dwindle. The one thing I could always count on is when Willy Wonka was on. It didn't matter what else was on, my dad would change the channel. I hated it, I hated how I would be in the middle of watching something and BAM..... Umpa lumpas were on. Through everything my dad went through with his battle with cancer that is the one thing that remained constant. I would find myself leaving the house because I hated watching that movie. I had watched it so many times that I just couldn't watch it any more. It has been a little over a year since my father lost his battle to cancer and now I really miss listening to him talk to the movie. I look back now and wish I would have spent more time making traditions to pass along to my kids. I can't bring back the past but I can try and make new traditions with my children that hopefully they can pass along to their children. This Christmas please make sure to cherish those little traditions no matter how much you might hate them because one day they might be gone and you'll miss it.

I wish you a Merry Christmas to you and you family.