Epilogue: 20-years later

Tom and Ginger are now the Patriarch and Matriarch, respectively, of the extended family. They still live in the house that they raised the kids in. Although Ginger is officially the Matriarch, she leans heavily on Tammy for advice concerning the Tradition, as her mother advised.

Ryan, Sue, and Tammy stayed together as a family unit and are now living on their grandparents’ farm, which was left to them when their grandparents passed away a year ago. They have five children. Ryan and Sue have twin boys, Mark and Tom, age 15, and Liz, age 14. Ryan and Tammy have a girl, Chloe, age 12, and a boy, Joe, age 8. The community and schools never questioned the relationship of the parents.

With the twin boys’ initiation into the Tradition only a year away, Ryan, Sue, and Tammy are desperately trying to figure a way to keep the secret of the Tradition from the younger children. The problem is compounded by the fact that the twins’ initiation should occur during Spring Break from school.

As the twins’ initiation approaches, the parents still haven’t resolved what to do about the younger children. There haven’t been any initiations since they moved to the farm. So that issue hasn’t come up in the past year. Tammy decides to call their Mom to discuss possible solutions.

She dials their number, and Ginger answers the phone and says, “Hi Tammy, how is everyone?”

“We’re all fine, Mom, but we have a problem about the twin’s initiation,” she replies.

“I know,” says Ginger, “what to do with the younger kids. I’ve been thinking about that too.”

“We’ve been thinking about a solution for almost a year now, but nothing seems to work. With the family reunion taking place here at the farm, how do we tell the kids that they can’t be here?”

“Sweetie, I know this is going to sound crazy, but it might be time to make a change to the tradition.”

“Mom, what kind of change?

“Please hear me out, Sweetie. What if you told the children, twelve and up, about the existance of the Tradition, but that they’re not allowed to know any details of it until after they turn sixteen and that they can’t be home for reunions because of it? The kids under twelve wouldn’t understand anyway and just think they were going on vacation.”

“Mom, that does sound a bit extreme and like a major change.”

“It is a major change, but I can’t think of another way to handle it. I could ask Aunt Sherrie to take the kids to Disney World for a few days so the initiation can take place.”

“Mom, let me think about the implications to the Tradition for a few days. I’ll get back with you then,” replies Tammy.

She spends the next couple of days thinking about Mom’s proposed change to the Tradition. It would work for their family, but how will it affect the rest of the extended family? She decides it’s time to call Mom and make a suggestion.

She calls, and Ginger answers, “Hi Sweetie, have you thought about my suggested change?”

“Mom, that’s a major change; it affects the entire extended family, not just ours. I’d feel better about it if you had some input from the rest of them. Why don’t you reach out to each family and invite them to have a representative participate in a Zoom call so everyone can discuss this?”

“Sweetie, I hadn’t thought about the implications for the rest of the families. Thank you for suggesting that. Your Grandma always said that you had a deep appreciation for the meaning of the Tradition and she was right. I’ll set up a Zoom meeting for this coming Saturday evening at 8 pm.”

“Thanks Mom, we’ll talk then. Bye”

Saturday came, and the Zoom meeting takes place. Thirteen of the sixteen families take part. Only one representative expressed an objection to the change. He was older than most and felt that changing the Tradition should not be made based on domestic situations. The group decided to adopt Ginger’s proposed change as most families had multiple children, making it easier for them to explain why one child was going to a reunion and not the others.