BLOG #2-Family Traditions

One of the things we read in the beginning of the course is what makes a family. My previous post focused more on who makes a family. This post I want to focus on specific things such as traditions and family heirlooms that shape the family.

Ever since I can remember my family has always been musical. My dad plays many intruments my brother loves music and my mother and I sing. One family tradition we have is called "Fam-Jams." A Fam-Jam in our family is a night when we all get together and rock out in our basement. We invite other family members over, we invite friends. It's an oppourtunity to visit and to share music.

I remember growing up we would sing at family holidays or parties using a small karaoke machine. About 9 years ago or so my Dad quit smoking cigarettes. One of his motivations to stop buying packs of smokes was to invest in musical equipment for our "little studio"  in our basement. All the money he would have used for cigarettes for a year he used and purchased mics, amps, a keyboard, a guitar and a mixer. This is when the "Fam-Jams" started in full force.

We started messing around with the equipment my Dad mainly on guitar and keyboard and we were able to write a few songs together. For special occations such as our family Canada Day party or Christmas party, there is a group of us who get together to preform a couple sets for our family. This has become a tradition for a few years now. Our "fam-jams" reminds me of the stories my Mom used to tell me about when her family got together in Scotland and had what they called "Sing-Songs." Taking turns in one big room with the family singing acapella old Scottish songs.

Our family isn't big on family heirlooms, however one piece of jewelery is very important to me. My grandma passed on her 100 year old scottish gold ring that was given to her by my grandfather. She gave it to my mom and dad to use for their engagment ring. My mom gave it to me a few years ago when my grandma died. This piece to me sybolized love in our family. I never got a chance to meet my grandfather he died when my mom was 13. Although he died young he loved my grandma and was a hardworker for the family. Passing it on to my mom and dad was goodluck because they have been together for 30 years and still happily married. I want to keep this gold ring in the family and pass it down to my kids one day.