Tradition

I worked in retail for 11 years. My favorite day of the year? BLACK FRIDAY!! It was the busiest day of the year and you barely had time to breathe much less think. It was wonderful. I mean it, I really loved it.

Shortly after our son died I left my retail job and moved back to Georgia. Home. The first free Black Friday I had I spent with my parents driving back to DC to pack up my house we could sell it. But finally, the next year I was able to go shopping on Black Friday. The mall near us has a lot of no name stores so I tend to drive to the north side of town to the nicer malls.

Every Thanksgiving my aunt and uncle come to visit with my parents. She usually goes shopping with us and then she and my mother leave early. No big deal. This year however, she walked in, sat down and said I'm taking my mother to Tanger tomorrow. No question about what everyone else was doing. Just a statement. It didn't really bother me until my mother said she was going with them.

Now I really am trying to start a tradition with my family. I want to get a group together and go shopping just like I see other people doing. Instead of that, I went to a mall 60 miles away with my three nephews. They went on their merry way and tried my best to find what I was looking for. I was not very successful. I drug bags around and had to call them to find me in the mall to take my stuff to the car. I couldn't find what I looking for and was pretty disheartened by the time I decided to leave. I think I marked two people off my list.

My mother ended up staying home. She said she felt bad for not going with me, but she didn't know what else to do. I told her it was okay. I would have a little girl and one day she and I would go together one day. Nice tradition, huh?