“In America nothing dies easier than tradition.”
- Russell W. Baker, Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner writer; New York Times columnist
I had two childhoods, one American, one African. Although two continents and cultures apart, both mirrored identical traditions like Santa's Christmas Eve cookies, uncomfortable Easter dresses, cheese-toast sandwiches, eat-out birthday dinners, camping vacations, and poetry with pots of Earl-Grey. My own children I raised with traditions akin to my childhood -- today as young married adults, they too, still practice some of the same. I like to think that any traditions I celebrate and observe today, embody what I will always value: faith in God, family, friends, fun, spontaneity, laughter, truthfulness, and finally -- acceptance of others and myself.
My twenty-five-year-old married son and his wife have just birthed their first child, my first grandchild: Nolan Kahai Tam. So many of my musings dance around being Nolan's grandmother. As a grandmother, what traditions will I share with Nolan? What new traditions will we build and experience together?
- Russell W. Baker, Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner writer; New York Times columnist
I had two childhoods, one American, one African. Although two continents and cultures apart, both mirrored identical traditions like Santa's Christmas Eve cookies, uncomfortable Easter dresses, cheese-toast sandwiches, eat-out birthday dinners, camping vacations, and poetry with pots of Earl-Grey. My own children I raised with traditions akin to my childhood -- today as young married adults, they too, still practice some of the same. I like to think that any traditions I celebrate and observe today, embody what I will always value: faith in God, family, friends, fun, spontaneity, laughter, truthfulness, and finally -- acceptance of others and myself.
My twenty-five-year-old married son and his wife have just birthed their first child, my first grandchild: Nolan Kahai Tam. So many of my musings dance around being Nolan's grandmother. As a grandmother, what traditions will I share with Nolan? What new traditions will we build and experience together?
