By Melissa McWilliams, AGSS Program Manager

Celebrating Honored Traditions

Festive lights are twinkling, holiday events are in full swing, and the recent snowfall has added to the feeling that Christmas time is here!

We all have special moments and memories we look forward to re-creating year after year during the holiday season. And for any child entering your family through guardianship or adoption, the same is true for them! Even if the environment they came from was not considered healthy, there were still traditions of some sort made. As the realization that those traditions with people from before (bio parents/family, former foster parents, friends, etc.) are not possible anymore, grief and loss will be felt, and you might see a change in behavior.

Here are a few articles that speak about this, and which offer great insight into what to do. I encourage you to check them out:

• Blending Traditions: The Impact of Adoption on Holiday Celebrations
• Preparing and Supporting Children During the Holidays | C.A.S.E.
• The Holidays | An opportunity for loving healing | C.A.S.E.
• Holiday Joy for Adoptees & Families: Nurturing the Spirit

This holiday season, I am grateful for so much and I look forward to celebrating the greatest gift of all: Jesus’ birth. I wish you and your family a holiday season filled with wonder, peace, and joy.

Isaiah 9:6 – For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.