What an interesting question. I
guess the problem with answering this question is; I don’t consider any of my
personal family’s traditions or customs unique.
I start many a story or blog post
with a family experience or two. From my personal experiences of Camping with FiveKids, to the national parks and forests we’ve visited, many of my YA short stories
come from our adventures. But traditions and customs? I don’t think they are
any different from anyone else’s.
Let’s consider:
Each summer, we camp with seven
people in a tiny tent trailer that needs to be set up at each campsite. What’s
different about that? We travel coast to coast and up into Canada for a month
with those seven people—all sharing the duties of food preparation and clean-up
for meals, accomplishing the laundry, hiking together for hours in the heat and
the rain. Is that a tradition? Or is it just plain insanity?
In my memoir about attending college
as a mother of five, I share how I made accomplishing a college degree and child
rearing work. In this memoir, I share my belief that family comes first, that I
am a mother first and a college student second. As a parent, I demonstrate to
my children how to accomplish difficult goals, how to persevere through trial,
and how to seek out assistance when necessary. But most of all, I believe I show
my children how to stand up for themselves when they feel they are right. Is that
sharing a custom or tradition out of the norm? Or is it a crazy person just
trying to survive in a world, that in the beginning of the memoir, she felt she
did not belong?
You be the judge, cherished
followers of Adventures in Writing. I’ll be interested to see how you’ve
tackled this month’s question. It’s great having a topic to share our thoughts
on each month. I am extremely thankful for all of you for being my sounding
board and advisors in this writing and publishing game.
Thanks so much for visiting!
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