Remembering Old Traditions, Creating New Ones

Our family has many traditions and having oyster stew on Christmas Eve is one of them. When they were little our two daughters wrinkled their noses at the mention of oyster stew. Still, we asked them to take a taste, no more than a teaspoon. As the years passed they grew to like oyster stew and this tradition. Four years ago my elder daughter died from the injuries she received in a car crash. The pain of this tragedy is still with us, yet we are trying to new memories and traditions. We have two traditions, giving to the food bank and giving to the library in her memory. These are heartfelt, practical traditions that help others. If our daughter was here she would smile.