traditions

Funny how I have always thought of myself as a pretty traditional person - never doing anything too crazy, never thinking too far out of the box, following most of the "rules"...and yet as I look at my life right now, it's pretty nontraditional in a lot of ways!
For example, I always thought I would have holiday traditions with my family that repeated year after year after year. Not quite! Maybe going back and forth between mom and dad growing up added a certain lack of continuity - although there were traditions at each house. But I'm not sure many of them have lasted as I've grown up. And I'm okay with it! I've gotten to learn a lot about other families' traditions by spending holidays with lots of different people as we blend families for special occasions, and while there's part of me that hopes that I'll be able to create some traditions for my own family some day, for now, I love the little traditions that my family has become part of through other families. The one that stands out to me today is the Christmas Eve tradition of going to Galatoire's with the Stewart family. Their theory: Christmas Eve is for the parents...celebration time! And what better place to do it than in the French Quarter in New Orleans!
I'm not really sure of the year when we were first invited but mom, Gran, and I have been joining the Stewart clan for a number of years now. The truth is that it's much fancier than I would actually gravitate towards. I'm more of a jeans and t-shirt (or sweater or fleece!) gal but I can get dressed up when I need to. And Gran loves getting dressed up and going out so I'm happy to do it for her.
But I digress...the morning begins with someone - usually Meg - standing in line in the French Quarter waiting for Galatoire's to open. They don't take reservations so you just have to be there to claim your spot. The morning crew gets there before daylight hits the Big Easy but they are armed with coffee, beignets, and then later Bloody Marys so we don't feel too bad for them! But we're grateful all the same.
Once the restaurant opens (around 11:30 a.m.) everyone stakes their claim on tables that seem to be pre-ordained. It's so New Orleans. The same families eat there on Christmas Eve year after year and there is an unspoken understanding of where everyone will sit. Every once in a while a family needs some special arrangement (someone's gotten married and the new husband or bride is now part of the family and so a seat needs to be added...or someone has passed away and a seat is taken away). In this case, people are flexible and the "assigned" tables just shift.
Before we're even seated the mimosas and milk punch and O'Hens are flowing...the latter is only for the strong. (Not me...it's an absinthe drink and it's light pink and I tried one my first year and cannot fathom ever trying it again!) The drink supply is constant and the food quickly follows suit - shrimp, oysters, crabmeat, fish, Eggs Sardou,... you name it, Galatoire's has it! The food is delicious, but the people watching is even better. People are mingling - some barely sitting down to ever grab a bite to eat. Catching up on the events in their lives since last Christmas Eve. Crowning a new Queen and King of Galatoire's. It's sort of a three-ring circus and then we get tossed out on to Bourbon Street to go on with our day. (Today we were ushered out by a bagpiper?!) Usually to church sometime that afternoon or evening - always a question of whether or not we'll stay awake through the service and who will actually go.
And once back home, time to watch "It's A Wonderful Life" - which no one in my family will watch with me! Which is sort of okay because it gives me a chance to wrap those last minute presents. And finally, plans to sleep. With visions of a Christmas morning run dancing through my head...
It's all a little different from the visions I had as a little girl of everyone gathered around a fireplace with mugs of coffee and hot cocoa and bowls full of steaming oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar and a little bit of milk. (Clearly, I thought I was growing up in the northeast instead of in the south!) But that's okay. Growing up is sort of about letting go of old visions and appreciating the visions that are right in front of you. And today, I do.