This will be my last blog posting for the year of 2024. I will begin the New Year of blog posting on Friday, January 3, 2025!
As an avid genealogy researcher, I always look for new activities to share with my family, especially during the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Holidays. Here are some activities I have used in the past.
Observe family traditions—or create new ones
There’s nothing like reliving a time-honored tradition to revive family closeness. What traditions does your family share? Decorating your home, baking a favorite dessert, decorating cookies, or touring Christmas light displays?
Have you considered changing your family traditions? Maybe retire a tradition that just doesn’t work with your family’s current circumstances, ages, or interests and may be adapt one. If you don’t have any food traditions, adopt some.
Give a heritage gift as unique as your family
Instead of yet another sweater, candle, scarf, tool, or gift card, give your loved one a gift unique to your shared past. A family history photo book is a great idea. A couple of years ago, my sister gave us siblings a copy of a framed photo of our paternal grandparents. I had never actually seen them together. They divorced before I was born.
Honor absent loved ones
Create a tabletop display for a loved one serving in the military or for distant grandchildren. Memorialize those who are gone with memorial ornaments. During family get-togethers, consider observing a moment of silence or lighting a candle to honor someone who is gone.
Make a donation to honor your ancestors
If you’re a member of a local, state, ethnic, or national genealogical or historical society, consider giving a financial contribution. Give to a veteran’s organization or one that helps families of deployed personnel. You might even make that donation in honor of your ancestors so that their names and legacies “pay it forward” to descendants yet to be born.
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