misunderstanding tradition

Have you ever lost a family tradition? When traditions change, we are affected and our families are impacted. My husband, Bryce, shares one of his experiences with us.  

Bryce In Hunting Season

In some families, traditions last through many generations and some become more sacred than holidays as family gatherings. For our family the most important time of year is the Pennsylvania whitetail deer season.  

The tradition of hunting deer has been passed down for many generations in our family. But I almost missed it completely. I went out to hunt when I was twelve. I had taken my hunter’s safety course. I had learned to shoot from my father years before. He and I talked about hunting strategies, found me some old clothes that were way too big, and got up early on the day of the hunt. 

This was something that was so important to my father but after standing alone in the cold and completely bored, I wasn’t willing to go back out to do it again. I let my father down. I let the family tradition down. And I let myself down. This is what the men in my family did. It was one of the many black sheep moments of my teen years, but I put it out of my mind as I pursued my passion in the arts. 

I went away to college, came home, and married the love of my life. I got a job, spent lots of time playing music, making art, and I was fulfilled by it without really giving hunting a second thought. 

Then tragedy struck. My father died. Suddenly. Of a heart attack - which is another tradition in my family. Desperate to connect with the father I lost, I went out to hunt on opening day of the next deer season. I held his rifle in my tree stand. I was even wearing his clothes. I didn’t own field pants or a hunting shirt. The only things that were mine in that stand were my boots and my underwear!

The first morning, just a couple hours after I got to the tree stand, a buck walked past. I shot. Not more than fifteen minutes later my brother was showing me how to field dress it. Little did I know, with that choice I had just kept an important family tradition alive.  

I’ve gone out every deer season since. I showed my son the ropes and thankfully he understood the value of hunting to our family much earlier than I did. Now our family is passing this tradition to our new son-in-law. 

This tradition has many traditions within it. Each year, we would always stop at my mother’s house for lunch on opening day. Now that she has passed, we have to create a new opening day tradition. Our daughter Jael started making homemade biscuits for us a few years ago. Now, she sacrifices a work day to be part of the family tradition. A warm ham biscuit to eat after freezing your own biscuits off in the Pennsylvania winter is a real treat!

There are so many more. Jody butchering all the deer we shoot, taking the meat down the road to our fellow hunter and neighbor Ron to grind for us, and chasing off trespassers who try to sneak on our property every year. We have so many traditions and stories during this season.

I am thrilled to be adding a new member to the family tradition this year. Someday we’ll be passing it down to a new generation. Hopefully they won’t miss out on all the years of tradition that I did. 

Consider your family traditions. Do you know why or how they started? 

Traditions don’t usually start by accident, but they are a purposeful choice to start and continue a pattern. These patterns bring our family together. They shape our stories and our lives. And allow us to teach and impact the next generation. Choose them wisely and continue them consistently. 

Searching for wisdom and asking for grace,

Jody