A Favorite Tradition

A Favorite Tradition

As young children, we didn’t have too much. We made up for it later, but then we had nothing. The one thing that my family cherished completely was BIG imaginations. About 23 years ago, on this date, (St. Patrick’s Day) my brother and I were outside playing. The night before, my grandparents, whom rarely visited, had come over to our house. My grandmother had dropped a big Tootsie Roll in the drive way.

The following day, she notified my mother that if we were to find the candy, to let us have it cause it was safe. Mom never said anything to us kids about it, just in case we didn’t find it. She didn’t want the disappointment.

I had been in school already; I think that I was in Kindergarten. We had read a book about leprechauns. My imagination took off, and I told my brother to go outside with me to see if we could find the leprechaun. We found little seeds from the nearby trees, and I said that they were leprechaun footprints. We would search for hours for the leprechaun that these footprints belonged to.

It also happened that my parents, who hardly ever drink, had Champaign or something recent to that day. Or the bottle was in the house, whatever. It was a green bottle, so I figured that the leprechauns would love the bottle. So, I tried to bait one. I put things in that bottle that the leprechauns would like, so we could catch it. We figured that finding his treasure would be so much fun!

As we were on our leprechaun hunting journey, my little brother Mikey came across the long lost tootsie roll. Immediately we knew that the leprechaun left it for us! It was such a wonderful feeling. We were so excited to find this treasure; all of our efforts had paid off. We started to scream, and jump up and down. We were so excited. Being poor, getting a little treat is very exciting! Also, the fact that it was left for us by a mystical creature made it that much more neat!!! We showed our parents, and we ate that candy with all of the pride in the world.
That began our tradition. Every year the Miller kids would go find the candy that the leprechauns left us. It never occurred to us that we were the only kids in the neighborhood that leprechauns left them family.

This tradition became a huge part of my childhood. It was so special to me.

I grew up and realized that I had no mystical creatures leaving me special candy. I do know however, that I have an amazing God that plants little treats my way here and there. I try and cherish those treats the way I did the leprechaun candy.

I also make sure that my children are able to experience the same kind of thrill of finding candy from their leprechaun. An imagination is the key to childhood. It took us away from the daily problems of life. It took us away from the stress of living. It gave us an out. I love my kids to have a big imagination. I love for my kids to believe that they are going to be swept off their feet by some gorgeous prince, and that monsters creep in dark hallways. It makes for some good times. Every now and then I help hunt for leprechauns with them. I know that one day my children will appreciate the things that I do, the way I did for my parents. I also know that when God gives them things in life, they will be able to have enough faith to get out of the situation safe. They will have the ability to lean on that instead of some crazy need for scientific evidence.
Imagination is more important than one will ever know.

Thank you for allowing me to share my tradition.