Tag Archives: grandma

Pass The Present


Text: It’s actually a newer tradition that I actually I really like. On Christmas, and other holidays, my grandma started doing this little game. She prints out these like sheets online, which is like it’s a ‘pass the present game,’ so people get presents. We all sit in a circle, and there’s some prompts that are like ok, pass the present to the youngest in the room. And then you give the random wrapped present to the youngest person in the room. Then she reads out the next one and it’s like give it to the most artistic person, and then you hand it to the person you thik. Give it to the person with the least amount of hair, then give it to that person. Give to the person with the most amount of hair..and it kind of just goes until the sheet ends, and then whoever ends up with the prizes gets to open up the presents. She did it at Christmas and Easter. I think she plans on doing it at Thanksgiving too cause it was really fun and we all enjoyed it.

Context: AL described this tradition when asked about holiday traditions. AL’s grandma would print out a sheet of paper with prompts. These prompts would have examples of people in the room, such as give prize to the youngest on the room, to the most artistic person, and to the one with the most/least amount of hair. Whoever read out the prompt would pick their person and give them a small prize from the grandma, and whoever had the most amount of prizes at the end could open the big present.

Analysis: This tradition shows how families can create new rituals that quickly become something everyone looks forward to. The game isn’t tied to culture or religion, but it still brings people together by making gift-giving more interactive and fun. The prompts encourage people to look at each other in a playful way, which can lead to jokes, competition, and laughter, making the moment feel more memorable than just handing out presents normally. Since the grandma leads the game and plans to use it for multiple holidays, it also shows how one person can shape and spread a tradition within a family. Also how one tradition can be translated to multiple holidays. It highlights how traditions don’t have to be old to be meaningful, they just need to create a shared experience that people enjoy and want to continue.

Great Grandma’s Chair

Age: 72

Age: 19

Text:

“In our family, we have unassigned assigned seats for dinner. After my mother, Elizabeth, passed away in the house, we would keep that seat at the table empty out of habit. Well, one day, about a year after her death, we had a guest over and so I offered my seat up to the guest. I would sit in my mother’s seat. When I sat down, I felt an immense weight on my shoulders and an overwhelming feeling of sadness. It only left me once I left the chair. I ended up having to sit at a folding chair and the chair remained empty. Since then, I do not let anyone sit in that seat as it’s her chair. Even today when I am eating at the table, out of the corner of her eye it can look like someone is sitting in the seat. I believe it is her.”

Context:

This was told to the informant by his grandmother, about his great-grandmother. It was told on Thanksgiving at family dinner. The story itself took place roughly 10 years ago.

Analysis:

In this story, a grandmother speaks about her late mother to her grandchild to explain why a seat is kept at the dinner table for someone who has died. It is a sign of respect to the dead, as well as slight fear against change. This story sparks the debate of if there is truly a ghost or if grief itself can manifest into a spiritual form. The story functions as a warning against erasing past relatives, as well as a loving tale that past relatives never actually leave the family, even in the afterlife.

Grandma’s Earrings & Brooch

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA

“When my grandma passed away, the two things that I got from her were a pair of ladybug earrings and a butterfly brooch. So I started as a tradition wearing one of these items. Anytime I had a big presentation, anytime I had a big event, anytime I went to a family event where my grandpa was going to be there, as a way to invite her. I don’t know. It just felt like if I was wearing one of those, she was with me and she was able to see what I was doing and still keep up, even though she wasn’t alive. It definitely got to the point where times when I was like ‘oh, i don’t really want to wear either of these. They don’t go with my outfit’ but I’m not going to say that grandma can’t come to Christmas dinner. So you wear the brooch or you wear the earrings so that grandmas with you.’ I do that for a lot of things.”

Do you also view them as good luck charms in a way?

“Oh, definitely yeah. I mean it’s just like having someone on your side/ I mean, I don’t think it physically brings me good luck. Even though I know butterflies are signs of hope and I know ladybugs are signs of luck, I don’t view it very strictly in that way. It’s supposed to be my grandma and she’s going to help me get through it.”

Did you start doing this on your own?

“Yeah, I started a couple months after, so I’ve been doing it for about nineish years now.”

Analysis: After the death of close relatives, especially grandparents, we receive family heirlooms or some sort of memorabilia from their lives. Particularly with jewlery, we tend to inscribe intense meanings onto these items, feeling that they are a connection to the person’s spirit. Wearing their jewelry is like carrying them with us, just as the informant described. By having her grandmother with her, the informant has the confidence to face stressful events as well as accompanying her at family gatherings. The informant specified that she feels an obligation to wear the items around her grandfather since he had lost his wife. In a way, this creates a special bond with her grandfather who sees his granddaughter carrying a piece of his wife as she lives through her. This is one of the many ways of coping and supporting family members in their losses of loved ones.

Black eyed peas for good luck on New Year’s

Text: 

“Every year for New Year’s, my grandma comes over and cooks black eyed peas for us and we eat them with our lunch. She always said it’s for good luck and wealth in the next year and she makes us finish all of them that day, which is crazy because she makes a lot, and I don’t even like them that much.”

Context:

My informant is from Chicago and claims that her grandmother has done this every year without missing a single year since she has been alive. She does not think it makes a difference with her luck or prosperity. 

Interpretation:

This is an example of how traditions and superstitions can overlap. Her grandmother makes the black eyed peas annually on the same holiday with the same people out of fear that she will have bad luck and poor prosperity if she does not. It shows how traditions and superstitions can bring groups of people together over a common belief and/or activity. This is also an example of how food can be symbolic for something else and, therefore, become associated with superstitions. After a quick Google search, it seems that many people believe black eyed peas symbolize coins and, therefore, eat them on New Year’s Day for good luck and prosperity in the new year. 

Future Spouse String Initial

Context: I had a string hanging off my jacket when Informant pointed it out and told me this piece of folklore. I asked informant to repeat the lore to me so I could record it.

Informant: “I heard from my grandma that when you have a little string hanging off from your clothes, that you have to pull it off and then throw it behind your shoulder. The you find where the string landed, and it should make the shape that is the initials of your future spouse.”

Background Information: Informant did not necessarily remember when their grandma had told them this, but they knew that she had. Informant did not necessarily believe in the validity of the folklore, but enjoyed doing it and sharing it with others anyway. The informant’s grandmother, however, is apparently a very avid believer in the lore.

Thoughts: The folklore is interesting, and something I have heard before. The folklore serves as a fortune telling device, and displays the notion that things which we attach to our physical selves (clothes), can embody ourselves and our lives. The folklore is a fun game to play as well as a serious predictor of the unknowns of the future. Either way, it is a comfort to its practitioners.