Gentile 1

Kelli Gentile
Mrs. Olivera
College Writing
January 17, 2017
Tradition
Such traditions often with families come traditions and routines, which are carried out
each day, week, or year. May be as simple as someone going for his morning run and stopping at
the same coffee shop every day. On Easter heading to his grandmothers for an Easter egg hunt.
At Thanksgiving time, families may head to the same relatives every year for their turkey and
stuffing. Or people may have some sort of literary traditions, as we do in my family.
Ever since I was a little girl, my mom has read stories to me, not every night, but as often
as her career allowed her to. We would frequently read Robert Munschs picture book, Love
You Forever which my mom read to my older sister when she was young too. This particular
book told the story of the evolutionary relationship between a mother and son, from when he was
a boy into his adulthood. It explained his often exasperating behavior through his teenage years,
but how every night, his mother would sneak into his room, cradle him, and sing him a lullaby
saying, Ill love you forever, Ill love you for always as long as Im living my baby youll be
(Munsch).
But soon she became old and feeble and the son went to college. Then when he visited,
he cradled her in his arms and sang her the lullaby she had sung to him. Eventually she passes,
but the boy keeps her lullaby alive by singing it to his daughter each night. Whenever my mom
read me this story, before putting me to bed, she would sing the lullaby. I can still remember the
nights, as she finished reading and I sat there half-dozing off. She cradled me in her arms and lay

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me down in my bed singing, Ill love you forever, Ill love you for always as long as Im living
my baby youll be (Munsch). Recently my mom, sister, and I came across the book in my
sister's old room and few silent moments of reminiscing washed over us both.
A reading tradition withstands in my house each year when December rolls around. Ever
since I was a little girl my mother would purchase a new Christmas story for us to read each
yuletide. When I was younger we would get picture books like The Polar Express or Arthurs
Christmas, but as I grew older, we read more advanced books like Charles Dickens A Christmas
Carol. When I progressed into the middle school, we started to take turns reading chapters. The
last few years, weve traveled up to the Book Barn in Niantic, CT in early December and picked
out a story. This past year we read The Christmas Thief about a man who tried stealing the tree in
Rockefeller Square, NYC.
When I was younger, as my preschool years slipped into my elementary years, and I
came upon second grade, I began reading more on my own. My mom had me read to her at night
instead of her to me. I read Judy Moody books and the Magic Tree House mysteries, with her
only helping me when I was stuck on a word. By the time I reached the third grade, I read at the
fourth grade level.
I can recall the praise from my third grade teacher, Mrs. Mikaelian, Kelli, youre doing a
wonderful job with your reading: a whole level ahead of the class.
My mother and father were ecstatic as well, See, I told you all that reading would pay
off! my mother exclaimed.
Another tradition, one between my dad and me, occurs each summer since I attended
middle school, when my dad returns home from work. He meets me under the umbrella at our
pool in the backyard with his crossword puzzle and book in hand. Once outside, we both read

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our books and he completes his crossword puzzle, asking me about clues he was stuck on that I
might know or he told me words that I did not know. From this, I learned a lot of new vocabulary
I would not have if we did not have this routine. Once a week we traveled to the Westerly Public
Library for some new reads; he would head to the nonfiction section while I bounded up the
stairs to the kids books. Then, we would reconvene in the lobby and be on our way to the pool.
Another routine in the summers included my mothers rule on what time the television
could be turned on. If it was before the 6 oclock news we could not have the T.V on, and instead
we had to find something else to do, often that something was read.
As Ive grown older Ive begun to appreciate the literary traditions and all the reading
that occurred within my household. Overall, those routines each summer, and of my childhood,
aided in shaping me into the reader I am today. Even now in high school, I am appreciative of
my young years because I love reading. If I am sent home with a book to read I am more excited
than most students would be. While advancing through the school system, I was never one of the
students who needed to be in extra reading classes due in part, I am sure, to the vocabulary and
structures my parents exposed to me in the reading done at home. They always encouraged me to
keep going the next step up in my reading and to challenge myself. My mother was always the
If you dont know a word sound it out! type of mom; she would rarely ever just give the word
to me. All in all, I am thankful for the values and education the reading traditions of my family
have bestowed upon me.

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Work Cited
Munsch, Robert. Love You Forever. October 1, 1986.