What is a tradition?

How often do you start doing something because it's simple and makes your day easier but then it starts to take on a life of it's own. That is TRADITION. O.k. so that might not be everyone else version of tradition but it's mine.
Many years ago when my dad was in a nursing home my mother and I started a routine of me calling her everyday on my way home from work, actually I would page her and she would call me back. Then when my dad came home we kept it up,,, it was easier and I could talk to her without any interruptions. And for many years we kept it up.

Then last year when Celia moved to Portland the tradition started to move from one generation to the next. At first I didn't see the pattern because Celia was working retail and her hours would always be different and sometime she would call me from the house and sometime on her way to work and if she was getting a good schedule she would call me on her way home from work. But then she started her new job and had a regular schedule and I noticed my cell phone ringing every day at 5:30 on as she was calling me on her way home from work. and then it became a game to see which one of us would be on our way home first... lately it has been Celia winning. But the realization that this behavior has moved from one generation to the next came when Sam started doing the same thing and she calls me as she is driving back to Daniels house from camp.

And my leisurely drive home from work is now a minimum of 3 phone calls one to my mom and then if I get out first one to Celia and one to Sam and the tradition continues... by the time time Morgan and Ashleigh are out of the house I might need to find a longer drive home....but that 's a good thing .