More Than Memories

Tradition is more than the making of memories. More than ritual or custom. Tradition goes deeper. It is about sharing our stories. Living and teaching our values. Passing ourselves down. Connecting.

May Long Weekend camping at Deception Pass has become tradition.

Meeting up with our friends, some of whom we see only once or twice a year, to reconnect and laugh.

Before kids, we met up at Owl Creek, a forestry campground with an outhouse and no running water. We slept in late, napped too, and stayed up for a better part of the night. We met there every year though none of us called it tradition.

Now there are kids. Lots of them. We go where there are showers and toilets. A much more civilized environment (besides the kids early morning wake-up calls that is!) We still stay up late, though 1am would have been considered early back in the day. There are still naps, just not our own. There are still lots of laughs, though the punch lines are a lot cleaner.

Now there are activities. Hockey games, bike rides, beachcombing, kite flying, log climbing, and trail exploring to do.

Building traditions, along with forts. Amongst giggles and cheers.

Our traditions do not involve things. No passing down of campstove teapots or secret Smores recipes. No, we all have our own ways of eating Smores thank you very much.

Rather, our traditions are more about being.

Being together.