Mark Knows It All

                    At my office Christmas gathering today we talked about our Christmas traditions.  Family is very important in the Mahoning Valley resulting in many traditions traversing the years through our very large, extended ethnic families.  Third generation Americans have turned up the volume on those traditions as we see our children marry outside of our ethnic group, have our grandchildren, and move out of the area in search of greener pastures!!  They have become Americanized as the Feast of the Seven Fishes morphs into beer and wings at Quaker Steak and Lube. For people like me, the transition has been somewhat difficult.  Those of us from very large families also attend lots of funerals.  My parents, aunts and uncles and many of my cousins are now gone. What began in my life as two huge Christmas gatherings on Christmas Eve and again on Christmas Day has become what restaurants are open on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!!!!  My wife has a brother and sis