In the Spirit of Celebration

It will come as a shock to nobody, but I have been reflecting on the topic of celebration and what it means to me in this season of my life.

What I'm finding is that celebration and honoring have become deeply entangled over the last couple of years. We host joyous parties to celebrate weddings, holidays, new babies, new years, birthdays, promotions, and any other big life change imaginable.

We also host wakes, funerals, celebrations of life, all to honor those we have lost.

Right now, I am at the intersection of those types of celebrations. The joyous and the painful. Honoring traditions and creating new ones. Keeping our loved ones alive because we miss them so. Teaching my little one about those who have gone before us and the traditions they taught us.

So when I lay my Thanksgiving table, my Grandma's glassware has a place.

Our Christmas tree has one of her ornaments, and an ornament for Leo.

Her cross-stitches hang in our hallways and living spaces all year-round.

We honor the Jewish tradition of leaving stones on headstones to tell the dead we visited.

We teach Beau about the rich Italian traditions of food and gathering that her Mom and Nonna grew up with.

We tell stories that make us belly laugh. That remind us of simpler times. That remind us what really matters in life. That break our hearts. That heal them. That honor the perfection of imperfection. That make us whole.