'Tis the season

December 01, 2019

'Tis the season of holidays— days for family, days for good cheer. Days for remembering, celebrating, gift-giving, and merry-making.

The holidays are rife with traditions, many of them decades— even centuries— old. Traditions are a link to the past.  Tradition means “handed down from one generation to the next.” Traditions remind us that we are not isolated individuals, we do not live in a vacuum; we are part of history, part of culture, part of a family.  The holidays themselves are a way of remembering the past, commemorating important events —days set apart for a special purpose. 

Our holidays, and our holiday traditions, are dear to us. But where do our holidays and traditions come from?