During the Christmas season, family tradition is important to everyone. Back in the dark ages, our family traditionally went to the Christmas Eve program at church, then spent the evening at home, opening gifts and being a family. On Christmas Day, Mom and Dad would bundle up their little sweetpeas, pack the Christmas gifts in the car, and head to Grandpa and Grandma Hattendorf’s house in Ocheyedan, Iowa. This family tradition remained intact for as long as I can remember. In 1988 Grandma Hattendorf died, so we changed our location-tradition to Aunt Gladys and Uncle Leonard’s house in Ocheyedan. The next year tradition flexed its independence and went totally haywire. My Aunt Lavera got sick and had to stay at an assisted living facility. We hauled all of the people, the food, and all of the gifts to the dining room of her temporary residence. The room was filled with folding tables, metal folding chairs and cheap Christmas decorations. The room was cold and lacked the intimacy of a real home. To beef up the festivities I brought my guitar and made the newly-acquired loving husband sing Christmas carols with me. He was totally mortified, but love makes people do all sorts of things they might not do otherwise. Christmas tradition survived that year, because we had each other. The next Christmas, our ever-fluctuating tradition changed locations again, to my parent’s house in Luverne. It stayed that way until Christmas, 1999. That year we headed to the nursing home in Sibley, Iowa, where my uncle Leonard resided and then on to Cousin Joel’s house in Ocheyedan. Through some bizarre real-estate-transaction, he purchased my Grandma Hattendorf’s old house. And so it goes, we were back to where we started 40+ years before. We’ve been all over the place since 1999. This year we finally landed at my house and I intend to keep it that way, at least for a couple years. Over the decades our family Christmas tradition learned to be flexible, adjusting, modifying, giving in, adding on, and letting go. The universe fluctuates, but love remains. If you want a totally steadfast, persistent, unwavering, tried and true Christmas tradition, I have good news, the Birth of the Christ Child should fill the bill. Happy Holidays to all of you from all of us. P.S. The library will be closing at 1 p.m. on Dec. 24. We will be closed Christmas Day and back to business as usual on Friday.
