Tradition!

Diane often tells me about a ritual that she recalls from her childhood. When their family went to visit relatives in Trois-Rivières or Montréal, her father would always honk the car horn twice on leaving after the visit. Last Winter, she said to me that we should do the same when we leave after our weekly visits with our daughter, son in law and grandchildren. I complied and dutifully started honking the horn twice as we were on our way home.

Rituals, tradition, and respect for rules are very important for my granddaughter Katherine. She finds comfort in them. A few weekends ago, Diane decided she would make a meatloaf and recruit Katherine as a sous-chef in the process. Before they embarked on the project, Diane took the time to explain to Katherine that she would deviate slightly from the recipe by deleting some ingredients and adding others. This was wisely done to avoid the trauma that could ensue from such deviations: even recipes are among the list of strict guidelines to be normally followed scrupulously.  

After supper, Diane and I were both tired as we left and forgot to honk the horn. When we got home, Diane looked at her cellphone and there was a messenger text from Katherine. In two little words, she gently reminded us that we had been remiss in our duty to respect tradition. The text read, “Beep beep!”