Traditions

I spent a great night carving pumpkins with my husband TB and three of my friends.  I am a Halloween junkie and anything to do with the holiday makes me just giddy so carving pumpkins is one of my favorite things to do.  But it really got me thinking this morning as I passed our creations when I left for work, this is a tradition I love that gives me fond memories of my family growing up.  A pang of sadness hit when I thought I'd never get to share this with my own kids.  Growing up we were the kids that insisted on painting easter eggs when we were still in high school and I still come home to do things like that.  We are all pretty creative in my family and loved to paint eggs, carve pumpkins, decorate the tree and shoot fireworks.  We enjoyed seeing who could make the best jack o lantern or the coolest egg or light the biggest firework and pull out the ornaments my mom gives us each year.  I have very happy memories of doing those things every year with them.  What was I gonna do now that I would never be able to pass that along?
I thought however, that this year was the third year we had our friends over to carve pumpkins with our friends.  CZ was the first, then SC last year and this year BZ.  It is fun to put out snacks and each pick which pumpkin we want then comtemplate our designs and tease the one who takes the longest.  A brick might as well have smacked me across the face when I realized that we are continuing the tradition I loved as a kid with the people we love now and that is the important part of a tradition.  Watching how excited CZ gets when hers lights up is what makes it so fun.  When I thought some more I remembered that for 2 years friends have come over to dye easter eggs, and how happy my mother in law was when I helped her decorate her tree each year while her sons were busy and the look on my husband's face when we introduced him to backyard fireworks.  I can keep my traditions alive with the people I love even if those people don't happen to be my kids.  As TB and I grow we will merge ours together and maybe create some new ones and carry on the important part of our traditions.