Write about a few of your favorite family traditions.

 Write about a few of your favorite family traditions.

I make my sons their turtle cakes annually, as my mom did for me

What is your favorite family tradition?

What unique holiday traditions does your family have that others most likely don't?

What are your family rituals?

When my son was born on Dec. 5, I was afraid his birthday would get lost in the shuffle of Christmas, so when he was about 5, we started putting a small “birthday” tree in his room. We’d decorate it with McDonald’s toys, old birthday cards, and his favorite Christmas ornaments from our big tree. His birthday presents would be under the tree when he woke up.

Every year I’d make a topper for the tree with the number we were celebrating. The last one I did was 21, and then I told him if he wanted the tree, he’d need to put it up himself. He took the ornaments with him for his and his wife’s trees.

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<tear in my eye> As they’re dead or spread we have few to no traditions. We celebrate my wife’s birthday by watching the Rose Parade 1/1. This is the only one I can remember offhand

What is one of your fondest family traditions?

I'm glad to see this question. It made me remember some happy times.

Christmastime is without a doubt my favorite time of year, not because of Christmas itself, but because of the atmosphere leading up to it. I've always felt this way, and I believe that is because of my grandmother. My Nanny was the same way. She loved Christmas and went all out every year. Her house was put in the local newspaper several times because of all the lights and decorations she put up. If only they could have gone inside the house!

Anyway, there are a lot of things I did with my grandma around Christmas, and if I had been asked my favorite tradition when I was a young child, I might have said “decorating,” or “making Christmas treats,” but looking back, it is what we would do every Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve is a last-minute shopping day for the adults of my family, and the only shopping day for the kids. I would head out with my dad in the morning and shop, then go to lunch with my grandpa, and then finally, I would go with my grandma. We would shop a little, and then she would always buy some fake poinsettias. We would then travel to a tiny cemetery that seemed like an hour away back then, and I would walk with her to her father's grave.

Even as a young child, I felt the emotions in the air when we visited his grave. She never cried or showed any signs of sadness, but I could just sense how special the moment was to her. When her mother passed away in 2013, we went to visit both of them, and the atmosphere only intensified.

My grandma died in March of 2015 after a long battle with cancer. Every Christmas Eve, I buy the most beautiful poinsettias I can find, and visit her grave. It's always freezing outside, being December, but I stand for a few minutes,