For me it's every evening around dinnertime, when all of the husbands are coming home from work. Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming up, and already I'm having trouble coping. When a family is confronted with divorce, it can be like an earthquake that shifts the entire marital landscape. Once the financial issues, custody problems and property discussions are resolved, emptiness sometimes, but not always, become a major focus. Jan, Ruth and Barbara share with one another the loss of meaning that each has experienced.
Traditions are an important element of family life.
They speak of values and relationships, and they become part of our history and our memories. We record traditions in our diaries and take snapshots of celebrations for our photo albums. For many of us, the traditions we observe help define who we are. The loss of tradition is significant and can leave us feeling lonely and depressed, with the sense that there's nothing to look forward to. We can cope with this loss, however, by recognizing it as such and then acknowledging the importance and meaning of tradition in our lives.