Our family has been going to Hilton Head every summer for our family vacation for about ten years. Our family believes in vacations and has taken them every year since our family blended in 1984. When our girls were small, we usually went to Ormond Beach, Florida for a week’s vacation, with our girls taking friends along with them. That location was selected because it was close to Mike’s parents, and we could have a vacation and also visit with them. We somehow knew that trips away were important and made them a priority. As the years evolved, we continued our tradition of family vacations, although the venue changed. Of all the choices Mike and I made for our family, our family vacations are among the most important.

For the past few years, our family vacations have been to Hilton Head. Now we travel with not just our children, but our grandchildren and their friends. The number of us gathering in Hilton Head each year varies. This year there were fourteen of us for some of the week, and ten of us for the full week. We sunned, swam, shopped, and took long walks. We ate (too much) wonderful food. We did puzzles, played board games, and played pickleball. We look forward to this time together every year. Traditions are created and memories are made, memories that will outlive us.

Hopefully your family has traditions, making memories that will live in your hearts forever. Work is necessary, and even fulfilling. But no amount of work satisfies the way pillow fights between cousins do.