I’m just going to come out and say it: I love family traditions!

This weekend I’m not actually at my desk because I’m enjoying one of my own family traditions: the garden party.

It all started almost twenty years ago when my grandparents decided to throw not one, but two huge parties for their 70ths. On one day they invited over 40 family members and we ate, drank, and made merry. The next day, they invited over 100 people – the entire village – and did it all again.

We all agreed that it was so wonderful that since then, they threw ‘the family party’ on the closest Saturday to June 3rd. It’s been a way for us all, flung across the globe, to come together and catch up. Each year, we enjoy each other’s company and enjoy some more family traditions: three generational games of sardines, huge puddings that no one can finish, and never having rain (nope, not in over twenty years).

Every year there are a few new faces, as people introduce life partners and have babies, and every year there are some missing faces. It’s bittersweet, but I can’t wait to be there.

Do you have any family traditions that you love – perhaps some that you hate? Tell me in the comments below!