Just a Few New Year Traditions

Do you have a favorite New Year's food or, more importantly, does your family celebrate a special tradition?

My parents fervently followed well-established traditions. Thinking about it now, I actually consider those traditions more like superstitious practices. Mostly, they concern food with a few routine behaviors thrown in.

Everyone in the family welcomed in the New Year. It didn't really matter what age anyone was - we all celebrated out the old and welcomed in the new year as a family unit. If one or several members were absent from the family fold, soon after midnight and after hugs, embraces and happy New Year wishes the phone would ring. This happened like clockwork. As we moved away from the parental home, each of us took our turns calling if we could not be home.

On January 1 no female person was permitted to be the first individual to enter the house. It always had to be a male. He had to throw a pinch of salt over his shoulder and then the coast was clear. My parents never explained this one to me but it had been a practice long before I was born.

For breakfast we ate donuts - this had something to do with the old year coming full circle and the start of a new one.

Lunch on New Year's Day was always the festive meal. Main course could consist of any type of meat course but it had to be accompanied by cabbage. This was my father's one annual concession since he absolutely hated cabbage. According to our family tradition, eating the large cabbage leaves ensured that the year to follow would be prosperous. My father suffered through his torturous cabbage serving and, after dinner, would proudly announce that "we're in the money now and our pockets will never be empty" - Truth is, my father was an excellent provider and his New Year's Day sacrifice was amply rewarded. "Be thankful for what we have," he'd say.

In the evening the family enjoyed a light supper that had to include black-eyed peas. My mother believed these delicious peas brought luck and lots of it.

As we usher in yet another new year, and close out the old one, memories of holidays past come flooding back. It's these recollections that rekindle wonderful thoughts and heartfelt emotions.

I have always considered family tradition important. While I don't consider some of these practices "musts", I honor them fondly for the memories they impart.

This article and other articles by The Old Gray Mare^TM are on DressYourHorse.com^TM and FantasyKritters.com^TM.