Autumn is Nearing

Autumn is nearing and the reminders of the holidays are rearing their heads.  I have always loved spending every single holiday with my family.  They are the most important and number one priority in my life.  We never ever spend a single holiday apart and I think that just shows how much love is there.  We aren’t perfect by any means… we have had our spats and up and downs but we always make nice, because we are family and we have and are always there for each other in the end, even if there are some things we don’t agree with from time to time.

This time of year always makes me excited for the holidays that are coming, especially now that I have my children to enjoy them with.  Halloween was fun when I was little, and now with my kids, I can pass that enjoyment onto them.  It’s always fun picking out costumes and seeing them go house-to-house soliciting candy in their cute outfits.  The challenge, of course, is settling on the “one costume” that they want to wear.

This is also the time of year where we are constantly reminded of holiday’s months before they hit.  Not that it’s too much of a bad thing, but it does feel rushed when you see Christmas decorations at Costco in the middle of August.  However, just seeing that it is coming warms me up to the idea of spending time with my loving family and the anticipation of all of the things that come with the seasons.

Something I have always loved about my family is that we’ve always had traditions and recipes within the family that we make sure are present every single holiday.  Dad loved the holidays, he loved spending it together with his kids and our family was getting bigger and bigger… soon there weren’t enough chairs to seat everyone at the dining room table.  But it didn’t matter we loved the crowd.  I loved seeing how happy it would make him to see all of us together and that look in eyes that showed how proud he was.  There was just this great feeling of love.  It’s a weird and empty feeling to imagine not having him at that same table during this upcoming time of year.

If there is something that I can take from my Dad regarding the holidays and this time of year is that he emphasized the total concept of family.  During Thanksgiving, he would always be thankful for having a loving family and during Christmas, he always focused on how much he loved us.  It wasn’t about food; it wasn’t about presents or music.  It was about loving each other and being there for one another and that is a value I want to continue to pass on to my kids, so that when they are older, they can appreciate of love, tradition, and family.