Every New Years day there was a tradition in our family between me an Eric. He had to be the FIRST person into the house in the New Year. Now that Eric has passed and is in heaven, this New Years tradition has to be reinvented. Will I continue it? Yes. How? I thought about it for weeks and weeks, then decided on a solution. It's not scientific, but it is practical. The tradition, which I learned from him and that I learned happens in most African-American families, is that the man in the family is the first person into the home in the New Year. It's his responsibility to ensure he enters through the front door before anyone else. When I told my Mom this, she said that it's a tradition that happens in families. She knew about it.
Now that Eric has transitioned, this tradition has to be reinvented in our homes (Atlanta and Amsterdam). I've asked myself "How do I continue this?", " Do I continue this?" I decided I would continue this tradition even though Eric is not here, How? Well I had two or maybe three ideas. One would be walking outside at 12:01 New Years day with a framed photo of Eric, open the front door and place the framed photo past the doorstop so that he's the "first" inside the house. The other idea is that I would do that with his globe urn, which houses his ashes. But that could be an accident waiting to happen. I wouldn't want to to drop his urn and have his ashes all over the place. The last option I had was that I would walk in, and since I have lockets with pictures of him, that would cover the tradition. I thought about it and couldn't decide between the three options for some time. However, I recently decided that I would use the frame photo idea. I think that would be the safest bet and honor the head of our household. I will put his picture past the door stop and then he would be the first one into the home. I will have to do the same for the apartment in Amsterdam as well.
So problem solved! How long will I continue this is something I cannot answer at this time. But I will ring in '2022 with Eric "entering" our home first, what do you think?