139th Edition
From Doormats to Traditions
What is your initial thought when you hear the word – doormat? Of course, nobody wants to play the role of one. But how about the actual doormat outside your front door? I’ve been thinking of doormats ever since a recent visit to my eldest son’s house. There it was by the front door, the name Kayes smack in the middle. A name, like every other name, in the sense that it connects people, young and old, even living and dead. Every last name means something to those who share it.
I met a baseball coach several years ago who knew several of my relatives from Olean, N.Y. As we were talking about them an associate of his, who was also from Olean, joined the conversation. The baseball coach introduced me, then added, “he’s a Kayes.” That seemed to mean something significant to both of them. I didn’t ask, but I quietly hoped his comment was complimentary.
When your last name is on the doormat at your house, it means more than just a welcome. It says a particular kind of people live inside. Hopefully, people who will love and care for all visitors. That they will be happy when you arrive and miss you when you depart. The doormat also sends a subtle message that this is my house and inside we do things a certain way. Traditions matter, I suspect, to families who have their name on the doormat beside their front door.
What are some significant traditions in your family? Which have you tried to carry on as a tribute to your parents and grandparents? Traditions are the glue that holds generations together. In our fast-paced, hectic lives, we sometimes forget traditions. Technology can add to the challenge as it clutters our minds and shortens our attention spans.
The best part about traditions is sharing them with friends for the first time. It serves as an invitation to become part of a new family. To share in the love and affection passed down through generations.
Thanksgiving has always been a time of heart-warming traditions at our house. Dinner at my grandparent’s house in Geneva, NY, enjoying scrumptious Syrian food prepared by my grandmother, was a tradition every year until I went away to college. Then in my freshman year at Wake Forest, I spent Thanksgiving in McDonough, GA with my roommate’s family, and was exposed to different traditions. I felt welcome and part of the family while eating foods I had never tasted before and hearing accents I had never heard before.
Sports are full of traditions. Athletes are often called superstitious, but eating the same pre-game meal or wearing the same socks each game are really traditions. Before the tip-off of my high school basketball games, I would look into the stands and find my dad. He would wink at me and that small gesture put my mind completely at ease. Traditions don’t have to be extravagant to be meaningful.
In Major League Baseball there is a tradition of having a dignitary throw the first pitch before the start of the World Series. President Taft started that tradition in 1910. In more recent years, President Bush threw the first pitch at Yankee Stadium before the start of game three in the 2001 World Series. It was especially memorable following the tragedy of 9/11. Future Hall of Fame shortstop Derek Jeter gave President Bush some advice before the famous pitch – “Don’t bounce it, they’ll boo you!” Another long-standing baseball tradition… Bush threw a strike and the crowd roared. Our nation’s recovery from the worst terrorist attack in our history continued. Another tradition lived on, perhaps the most significant one in our nation’s history… Americans uniting and rallying, rising to the occasion, to combat challenges before them.
Can we honor that tradition today? Just how might that be accomplished and who will throw the proverbial first pitch?
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Michael Kayes
*These views are my personal opinions and are not the viewpoints of any company or organization.