Traditions: What Makes a Holiday Have-To?

What are your holiday traditions? We've got plenty, most involving the two big "F" 's: Family and Food!

As we all slowly recover from too many leftovers and the Black Friday brawls, it’s a good time to remember that the giving season is upon us and our holiday festivities are just beginning. With that in mind, we wanted to bring up one of our favorite parts of this holiday season, which happen to be traditions.

We were just reading on the South Florida Law Blog about Roy Oppenheim’s regular Thanksgiving “Turkey Stand Off” (a great article, if you haven’t read it!), as well as a list of some of the mostunusual holiday traditions, and it got us wondering: What really makes something a tradition? Is it the recurring nature or the value that the participants put into the event? Can you call something a tradition if it’s only happened a couple times? Why do we often feel that traditions “make or break” a holiday, when the holiday’s themselves are traditions?

Help us make a difference this year! It can be a new tradition!

In honor of the spirit of giving, we started a tradition not too long ago to participate in the Children’s Home Society of Florida’s “Angel Tree” Holiday Drive. People bring new, unwrapped gifts, like toys, clothes, books, etc., for children who are in situations keeping them from having a plentiful holiday. According to theirwebsite, the CHS of Florida “…delivers a unique spectrum of social services designed to protect children at risk of abuse, neglect or abandonment; to strengthen and stabilize families; to help young people break the cycle of abuse and neglect; and to find safe, loving homes for children. Every year, CHS helps to improve the lives of about 100,000 children and family members.” Their tradition became our tradition when we realized we could help change the lives of some children in need during the holidays. EDC and Gibraltar Title are collecting at our headquarters, our Sorrento and Capri clubhouses and at our two apartment complexes in Gainesville, Stoneridge and Tivoli, until December 15^th. If you’re in the area and care to join us in helping make a difference, we’d love for you to stop by and be a part of our tradition.

So, tell us: How do you define tradition? Do you have any, or are you more the “live-by-the-seat-of-your-pants” type? But, if you’re always spontaneous, is that, in itself, a tradition (okay, we know, we’re pushing it!)? In any case, we can all agree that the holidays bring a certain feeling of good will and cheer to the air that definitely makes this time of year merry. Hope you’re having a great start to the season!

What constitutes a tradition? Tell us your holiday traditions in the comments below!