Being away from family during the holidays has been difficult, but it’s gotten easier, especially thanks to friends and surrogate parents who invite me to their houses so I won’t have to be alone. I’m grateful for the invitations, but I still miss the family traditions I grew up with — Easter supper with my parents and grandparents, decorating Eggs and then hiding them around the house and in the front yard, having an Easter basket filled with pink Peeps and Cadbury eggs.
Funny how traditions tend to disappear as you grow older and move away from home. They’re so closely associated with families that it’s hard to think about creating your own ones when you live alone. Often if I’m feeling alone during the holidays, as I was earlier today, I try not to think about the traditions and festivities that I’m missing out on back at home.
Instead, I head to a local coffee shop, or Panera or Starbucks so I can feel connected. I like my alone time, but there’s a distinct difference between feeling lonely and being alone. Alone time helps you learn to appreciate and enjoy your own company. Too much of it, though, can lead to loneliness.
Loneliness is when you feel isolated and cut off from others, like when you’re up late at night and you look outside and see no other lights. You begin to feel like you’re the only one awake in the world, and then sure enough, loneliness finds its way through the door without so much as a knock.
So many people I know — including some of my family members — choose to be alone for Easter, Thanksgiving, etc., because the holidays, they say are tough. Partaking in traditions reminds them of what they’ve lost, of a time when holidays were spent with loved-ones who have since passed away. It’s easier, they say, to be alone and to “do their own thing.”
I’m the opposite when it comes to that. Traditions that my mom and I started when I was younger help me remember her and keep her memory alive around the holidays. We used to walk around the front yard, for instance, in our bathrobes and look for Easter eggs that the Easter bunny had hidden. I didn’t do this as I got older, but my dad still hid Easter eggs around the house even when I was in college. I was probably pretty old to be hunting for Eggs, but I didn’t care. It was a tradition that I wanted to hold onto and that I someday want to someday carry on with my own kids.
In the meantime, I’ll have to start thinking about some new traditions I can start on my own for the upcoming holidays. Any suggestions?
What are some of your favorite holiday traditions?
Word on the Street 