My Life - Chapter 11 - Family Traditions

A big tradition in the Mossner family is
going to Wisconsin State Fair.
8/9/2010 dwm photo

This week's question from StoryWorth was one I answered last week.  After looking down a list of alternate questions I selected "What are some of your family traditions?"

As a kid there are things our family always did, which I guess make them traditions.

When I brought my wife home the first time (she was a girlfriend at the time) to meet my parents and sister, it was Easter weekend.  We arrived on Thursday, because we walked from their house to church for Maundy Thursday service, returned on Good Friday, and went twice Easter Sunday for the sunrise service followed by church breakfast and Celebration worship at 8 AM.

That afternoon as we pulled out of my parents' driveway, Rhonda turned and asked if my family always went to church that much.

I hadn't really thought about it before, but generally speaking if there was a church service, you could find the Mossner family sitting on the left side of the sanctuary, half-way up the aisle.

Before my sister was born I remember picnicking at parks and hiking as a family and, while my memory might exaggerate the actual frequency of our trips, it seemed like we drove to Peoria, Illinois once a month to see both sets of grandparents and probably an aunt and uncle.

From the time they were married in 1961 until Dad died in 2012, my parents loved State Fairs.  Wisconsin's fair was their favorite, but when they lived in Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Indiana they took in those fairs while keeping their streak going of attending each year in West Allis.

Another outing we did every year like clockwork was spend a full day in Milwaukee shopping for Christmas presents.  The 1960s and 70s were different than today.  All the stores were closed on Thanksgiving and waited to open at their usual time the day after Thanksgiving.  The Friday after Thanksgiving wasn't called Black Friday yet.

We started preparing well in advance.  Mom and Dad put money aside in a Christmas Club savings account.  I saved money throughout the year.  In early November we prepared our lists, deciding what kind of gift was right for each grandparent, uncle, aunt, cousin, teachers, and the milkman.

A combined family Christmas
at Uncle Lyle & Aunt Barb's.
Mom & Dad and their parents
plus mom's brother and his
family. 12/25/1977 (dwm)

On that big shopping day we left for Milwaukee after breakfast so we could be in the downtown parking garage for the Boston Store when it opened.  We always started there, making our way through several stories of the grand department store.  Then we walked down Wisconsin Avenue where we stopped at Gimbles and other places that might have the perfect gift.  For lunch, we went to the Marc's Big Boy where I ordered a chocolate ice cream soda with a hamburger.  We spent a few more hours downtown then headed west to shop in the new Brookfield Mall where we had supper in the restaurant inside Walgreens.  We returned home with our shopping list full of checkmarks and the car's trunk full of gifts to wrap and label before the end of the weekend.

Christmas Eve was spent in Janesville because St. Paul Lutheran School students led a Christmas Eve Service that packed the gym.  We unwrapped family gifts at home afterwards and the next morning headed to Peoria and the home hosting the combined family celebration.  

Each set of grandparents took a turn as did my Uncle Lyle and Aunt Barb; every fourth year it was held at our house.  In the photo are both sets of grandparents; Uncle Lyle and Aunt Barb (second row on right); three cousins (left-center on stairs); my sister (top center on stairs); and my parents.  

When I was in first grade, we hosted everyone in Janesville.  When I walked in after the Christmas Eve service, there was a red Schwinn Stingray waiting under the tree.  

Mark cutting down the tree
under Dad's supervision.
Dec, 1996.

When my family began we kept some of those traditions and added our own.  During the time we lived in Augusta and I sold insurance, on payday Fridays I wrapped up my day at noon.  We picked up the boys at school and drove to Eau Claire where we'd eat an early supper at the Old Country Buffet; take in a movie or go to the batting cages; then get our groceries before heading home.                                                                                                                                                                                        As the boys got older, they took turns going with me to the Norske Nook for breakfast before school.  It was one of the most fun things we did and a lasting memory for me.

Birthdays were a big deal.  A Happy Birthday banner was strung across the kitchen cabinets, cake baked, and special dinner prepared.  

Halloween had me answering the front door handing out candy to visiting ghosts and goblins while Rhonda and the boys walked around the blocks where we lived before hopping in the van to trick or treat at the homes of special friends.

There were ball games in the yard; family fishing trips to Cadott; and movie marathons where we rented or borrowed VHS tapes from the Augusta Library across the street.  The insurance business required a lot of work hours, so we found together time wherever we could.

The move to Indianapolis coincided with a change in the family as Matthew stayed behind to finish high school while Mark switched schools in the middle of sophomore year.  

Matt graduated and started his life up north after a year with us in the Hoosier state.  Mark graduated Lutheran High and studied business at Ball State, graduating in 2013.

While a lot of life has happened in the last eight years we still gather at the Fair as often as possible to enjoy each other's company, remembering my folks who made it a tradition, and most years meeting my sister and her family as they make it a point to continue the enduring family tradition.