What is your favorite holiday memory?
Did you think of a toy you got when you were a kid? A food you liked to eat? A family member you loved to spend time with, or a place you looked forward to seeing, maybe just once a year?
These kinds of memories and traditions are the stories that friends and families love to pass down throughout the years, often from one generation to the next. They help us remember our own past, and they also help the young people in our lives learn how to understand and relate to their teachers and older relatives, and remember them fondly even after they’re no longer with us.
Sharing these cherished memories at the holidays is one of the foundations upon which we build our commUNITY.
This year, our Fifth Annual BWSD Holiday Cookie Extravaganza is a chance for our students, faculty, staff, and local seniors to create a new batch of happy memories during the holidays. This event is only five years old but it has already become one of my own favorite annual traditions because it always brings out the best in everyone who takes part, from the bakers who create the holiday treats to the volunteers who help distribute them and the senior citizens who light up at the chance to feel like kids again.
That’s the great thing about traditions: you can start a new one at any time, and then every year you’ll have a chance to make it into a new memory that will last a lifetime.
I hope that you and your family will be able to enjoy your favorite holiday traditions this year. I also hope that you will take some time to try new things, make new memories, and invite others to join in your favorite traditions. By coming together in the spirit of joy, you can help your family and your commUNITY keep treasured memories alive while creating new special moments that they will remember fondly for years to come.