chRONicles

The chRONicles

Christmas Eve, several years ago, I asked my parents what we were having for dinner that night. Apparently this was a foolish question as Ron immediately began asking me why I would ask something so stupid. He explained that we were having homemade cheesesteaks, as was our Christmas Eve tradition. This was confusing to me for several reasons:
1. I have never seen my father make cheesesteaks.
2. I have never seen my mother make cheesesteaks.
3. Unless it had been on hold for the 21 years I had lived to that point, we had no family tradition that dictated we eat cheesesteaks on Christmas Eve.

Despite the presence of these critical facts, the debate continued.

Me: Since when did we start having cheesesteaks on Christmas Eve?
Ron: You got a problem with eating cheesesteaks?
Me: Not at all.
Ron: Good, because its our new Christmas tradition.
Mom: He decided this would be our tradition.
Me: You can’t just pick something and make it a tradition.
Ron: The hell I can!

And so our Christmas tradition was born. It was born in Ron’s mind and forced upon the rest of the family without anyone else’s input. To his credit, he bought beef, chicken, and good rolls, so the meal was a success, despite the confusion. But the real beauty of this story occurs each Christmas Eve. You see, the cheesesteak ‘tradition’ has yet to be repeated. We have never had cheesesteaks on Christmas Eve again. What is repeated however, is me making fun of Ron every Christmas Eve for not continuing his ‘tradition.’ Much like its inception, the details on the end of the ‘tradition’ are vague at best. He claims that we did not appreciate the steaks and was forced to abandon our long standing(one year) family custom.
What I learned from this experience is that if you are trying to create a family tradition, its best to slowly work it in and let it grow over time. Ron forced it upon us and acted astounded when we questioned its origins. At the very least, a practice needs to occur in two consecutive years to be called a tradition. Also, bailing after just one episode is a significant detriment to a potential tradition’s growth.