Family Traditions

The SD national holiday is coming up this weekend: Opening of Pheasant Hunting. Truly, it’s a BIG deal. Hunters and dogs literally fly in from all over the country for this one weekend. It seems like every store and gas station sells blaze orange hats and hunting licenses.

This year I was trying to think of a way to get out of going. It can be a hassle preparing; you never know what the weather will be, the day is exhausting, and I’ve got a mountain of things to do. But at the dinner table last night the kids were talking about all that they are looking forward to about the weekend and placing their orders for what they wanted for snack foods, bake goods, and sandwiches, and I realized why I do this every year. It’s tradition.

Tradition has value for children and families. Traditions provide roots, a foundation of love, belonging, memories, and stability. I don’t need a survey to know that traditions help keep families functioning together. The Nelson family has been spending the third weekend in October together now for over 40 years. I married into the tradition and our children know what a sacred weekend it is.

Every year we spend Friday baking, finding boots and coats to fit our growing kids, packing up the suburban, and making sure there’s film in the camera. Saturday brings a two hour drive to the farm, lunch, jokes, laughter, dogs running around, and the gun safety review. Every year we can count on the men telling each other why we should hunt where first. We all know who’s going to win out and that we’ll take the same path as we did last year. Every year the kids will climb the hay bales and play king of the mountain. We’ll take loads of pictures, and reminisce.

Our children learn values, ethics, conservation, and even their directions of north, south, east, and west. Some years we celebrate a new spouse, the arrival of new children, a teenager who passed their hunter safety course and can carry a gun. Other years we support each other through the life changes of loss; both family members and pets. The hunting weekend is a time where everyone belongs, everyone fits in. Family ties are made stronger.

The talk at the dinner table last night was a good reminder of the deeper value of the hunting tradition for our family. It is truly the best weekend of the year for bringing our focus to what’s important: our family.