Being an Adult I look back to when I was a kid at my grandparents' house in Old Town Katy. I remember when the town was small, I10 freeway would go into Highway 90. The memories just flood my head just sitting here writing this out. The town is full of events that help people understand the roots of the town, but also how far back in time the town goes. The rodeo parade that happens in March, is a tradition that has been around since 1943 and is tied to the Katy ISD FFA (katy rodeo), my Memaw would sign my whole family up to be in the parade, the Katy Rice Festival that comes every October honors Katy agricultural roots (Houston Magazine), since Katy is known for being the Rice Capital of the World, and Christmas in Katy alone had meaning of its own; the Fire Department has their annual Santa on the Fire Truck that would drive down every street in town just to see the kids. I was able to keep the tradition for my kids. The biggest thing I remember most as a kid is spending my holiday breaks and summers at my Memaws house. These traditions that the town had didn’t just happen to the town, but it also became a family tradition, they helped bring my family closer together and bond over things my memaw had us do together.
My Memaws house sat on Bartlett Street in Old Town Katy. Her house is still there even though they don’t own it anymore. The front yard didn’t have a lot of grass. We would make mud pies and play basketball in her driveway. Her house was big; at one point my mom told me that it used to be a daycare before my grandparents bought it. There were two front doors, one was by the driveway, and the other one was above some steps. Her living was where we would stay up with her and watch her VHS tapes, my favorite movie was Little Rascals. I tell my kids I grew up with that movie since it came out in 1994. But I also tell them that the movie is based on an old tv show called Our Gang which came out in 1922-1944. It shocks my son when he hears about stuff that is that old. The cabinets in her living room were filled with toys and board games; we would stay up late playing games. She had a craft room outside of the living room where she would sit and make dresses and all kinds of stuff. There was also a small office where she would keep crayons, markers and paper for us to color. The scariest thing about this house was this long hallway that connects the kitchen to my uncle’s room in the back of the house. I always avoided that hallway cause when it’s dark outside that hallway scares me, I always thought something would come get me. But during the day we would run around her property, especially through the small side of the house that was between her house and the neighbor’s fence. I can still hear my Memaw tell me “Don’t go through there, it’s dangerous, your Papaw has sharp things there and I don’t want you to get hurt” Her house always seemed like a Jungle Gym to me. I miss this house every day, I wish they kept it in the family.
I lost my Memaw just recently, and it hit me hard. I always thought she was the glue to my family; she was the reason my family was close. She was an amazing person, and she always gave good advice. Although I didn’t always listen to her, I did, however, take her advice to heart. When I was going through the hardest things in my life, she was my rock I could tell her anything. If she could, she would give a stranger the clothes off her back and make sure they had food. I remember when she would feed the stray cats in her neighborhood the leftovers she had. She was always doing something to help if it was family, friends or complete strangers.
One of the things I will remember about Memaw is her cooking and mostly her cooking around the holidays. Walking into her house around Thanksgiving, you could smell the turkey, stuffing, and with those smells mixed with her pumpkin pie and pecan pie. You knew then you were at Memaws house. All of the kids would get kicked out of the kitchen because we would get in the way from her cooking. Christmas was exactly the same way. I sit here thinking of exactly how she had her house decorated with lights and all her decorations she would have scattered all over the house. There is a particular one that I will always remember though, and it’s a Nativity Scene that she kept by the front door, I would try to play with by moving the characters around. Sitting here thinking about these things I feel like I can smell her house now. The pinecones that smelled like cinnamon and the fresh pine tree that my Papaw would pick up for her Christmas tree. Her Christmas traditions I try to keep going in my family.
The family gatherings around the holidays are one of my favorite things, when it comes to remembering my Memaws house. We have so many people in my family now I lost count of just the cousins underneath me. When my Memaw passed away she had 19 grandkids, and 22 great grandkids and my son JJ is the last one she got to hold. So, you could just imagen what her house looked like when I was a kid. The living room would be full of adult conversations and kids laughing and running around. The kitchen would be full of Memaw’s cooking, my aunts and mom sitting at the table talking or helping her in the kitchen. When it came time to eat, the dining room table would be so full that us kids would have our own table to sit at in the kitchen. These moments taught me that traditions are about family coming together as a unit.
As I sit here closing out my thoughts, I will hold the memories of my Memaw and her traditions to my heart. But mostly I’m hoping I can carry her traditions on with my own family and future grandkids to come. She will be with us no matter what and I will continue to tell the stories about who she was and why she mattered. Although I moved away from Katy and she has passed away I will always hold the town of Katy close to me. One of these days I want to hopefully buy her house back and put it back with my family. I would like to rebuild it exactly how they had it. What does it mean to carry on traditions is the physical house is gone? Maybe the true home is not the building itself but the memories and the traditions that keep our families together.
Now that my Memaw is gone I ask myself what this means, how do I carry on with her traditions. The one thing she taught me was your traditions are how you make them. Listening to NPR’s Life Kit episode, When To Let Go Of Old Family Traditions- and Create New Ones. Marielle Segarra who is the host of this podcast explained that “traditions can be one of the most beautiful things in our lives. They can make us feel like we belong.” Andrea Bonior the Psychologist in the podcast added that traditions give us “an existential sense of connectivity to something greater than ourselves,” but also, she warned, some rituals can become “drudgery” when they no longer fit. This is somewhat what happened in my family, since my Memaw is gone I noticed that some of our family traditions don’t really fit with me anymore. I moved on to having my own traditions and embarrassing my own ideas with my own family.
The ideas from this podcast resonated with me. My Memaw traditions, her cooking, her decorations, and her way of gathering the family together, are what helped me stay grounded but also helped me want to bring that feeling to my own family. The podcast also reminded me that traditions don’t have to stay frozen in time. How my Memaw embraced the holidays, especially Christmas with her decorations, I know I can honor her by doing the same thing, but I also can make new traditions to fit my own life today.
Bonior suggested traditions can be remixed: keeping the laughter, the gratitude and the feeling of togetherness, but reshaping the details. That for me would mean continuing her recipes and starting new traditions with my kids. I realize that a true home isn’t just the physical home that she had on Barlett Street, but the living traditions that she built in the home that kept my family close even when we evolved into our own families.
What I like most about my draft is how it captures the memories of my Memaw’s house and connects them to Katy’s traditions. My favorite parts are the descriptions of her cooking and the way the town’s events tied into our family life. I want to continue working on adding more research and embedded quotes from published sources to strengthen the essay. I also need to improve my MLA formatting and make sure my Works Cited page is complete. One question I want to keep in mind as I revise is: How can I balance my personal memories with historical context so that the essay feels both emotional and informative?
Caroline Black is a Student at Houston Community College; she is currently studying to become a Paralegal. She is passionate about personal stories and historical and cultural traditions. Her hometown is Humble, Tx. But she spent holidays and summers in Katy, Tx, which is the hometown to most of her family. She wants to pursue a career in the Justice Reform, while working on strengthening her writing and analysis.