Tradition in my family was and is what is cooked for Christmas dinner. Through the years the dinner has changed but there are some things that stay the same. Pea salad - my step-mom always fixed pea salad - last Christmas was the first time for as far back as I remember she did not fix pea salad - not the kind with cheese and mayonnaise but with a wonderful vinegarette. I made the pea salad last year and will this year. Mom Judy died a year ago last November. I was fortunate in having two fathers and two mothers. My parents were divorced and both remarried to wonderful people. Christmas was spent with both sets of parents, Christmas Eve with my Mom and step-father and Christmas Day with my step-mom and Dad. Mom always fixed ambrosia - apples, oranges, grapefruit, red and green cherries and no dressing just the juices from the fruit. The telling of my great grandmother singing "Silent Night" was always a must until my grandmother Alma died. My great grandmother was in church for mid-night mass on Christmas Eve, everyone was singing "Silent Night" and one by one everyone else stopped except for my great grandmother. She was singing in German her parents native language amid people of German backgrounds. When she finished there apparently was a deep silence and a feeling of sweetness and holiness in the church as the service continued. Strange how traditions seem to cease when a person is no longer living. Dolores in Texas