Folks sometimes ask, “What traditions do you have as a military family?” With 15 moves in nearly 23 years–opposite coasts, living overseas, and COVID-19 keeping us apart–it has been difficult to see and spend time with family. But we have built our own ways to celebrate all the big and small events.

Daily Traditions – First thing in the morning, my sailor says, “Good Morning, Sunshine!” As he walks out the door for work, he kisses me goodbye and says, “Have a good day.” When my sailor was involved in a training accident during flight school, the one thing that bothered me was the thought of a missed kiss. In the evening, before bed, we sit out in the hottub–relaxing or meditating. Before we close our eyes, my sailor will ask me, “What is your love meter at?”–A rating check from 1 to 10 that we picked up at a marriage retreat. By doing this, we don’t go to bed mad at each other or with unresolved frustration.

Birthdays get special treatment–I make a cake from scratch, cook a favorite meal, and have a gift or two. Every once in a while, I will make a banner to hang. Not on the birthdate itself, but sometime around it, I will post to social media for family to see. I do this for humans and fur babies alike. Anniversaries are celebrated like birthdays. We also pull out photo albums and scrapbooks, and we may pull out our wedding DVD and watch that. St. Patty’s Day Weekend – We celebrate with a big Irish dinner. I get a little creative with this because of my autoimmune condition. St. Patty’s Day dinner is cooked in the crockpot. I can’t have potatoes, so we have yams or sweet potatoes. I also make corned beef because the corned beef you buy from the store has sugar and spices that I don’t use.

Vacations – Whenever we travel, we purchase an ornament to remember our trip and the adventures we have been on.

Putting up the Christmas Tree – We turn on Trans-Siberian Orchestra, find a fireplace scene to watch on the Smart TV, and decorate. All those ornaments we have from the places we visited get hung on the tree. Once we are done, we shut all the lights off except the Christmas tree lights, make a hot cup of tea, and sit and look at the tree. We will share memories from the ornaments we can see.

Our fur baby Angel was with us for 17 years. When she passed, we kept her ashes. Every time we move, we sprinkle some of her ashes in the backyard of our new home. We do this because laying out in the sun, in the backyard, was her favorite spot. She deserves to be carried with us until our sailor retires. She would whimper in the morning to go out or be fed, which gave me a reason to get up every day when our sailor was gone.

Our trips to Las Vegas – Every five years, we stop and make a trip to Las Vegas. This came about from all the moves back and forth from the West to the East coast. It is amazing how much Las Vegas changes every five years!

Marriage Enrichment – We do a marriage enrichment program every five years. We change as a result of the military lifestyle. Our love languages have changed, the way we communicate changes, and our priorities change. Taking the time to reconnect, learn, and understand these changes has helped us grow in our marriage.

What family traditions do you have that are unique or similar? Please share; I would love to learn how other families make it work.

Originally published on LinkedIn on April 7, 2025. [Read it here]