Supporting Family Life

by Mary Baker
(New Mexico)

Family life is a great way to support each other through the years and continue together on this journey called life. We can support each other’s dreams and watch them come true, and we can support each other in hard times.

Tradition binds us together. My family would attend church in the afternoon, then eat dinner together. While I did not share my family’s faith, it was time we spent together that emotionally connected us. I attended out of respect for my grandparents, and they appreciated it.

Afterward, we would cook together as a family or get take-out from somewhere. Dinner together would give us time to talk. Even though I didn’t share my grandparents’ belief system, I got to know them through those afternoons and would never take that time back. Often we might play a game or watch some TV together. It was early enough in the day that I could have plenty of time to go out with my friends later or go home and relax with a good book/movie, etc.

Another tradition involves taking numbers to open Christmas presents every morning. We would go in order, so we would get to watch one another. It was a fun time to laugh, joke around, and so forth.