Traditions are reflections of the beliefs, superstitions and personality of a family. I 1)stop short of saying that they are the soul of a family, because the spirit of those traditions may have been lost over the years. Still, those traditions are part of who you are, and whether or not you know why or how those traditions came about, they 2)give rise to a dimensional understanding of a family that 3)genealogists and family historians treasure.
传统反映的是一个家庭的信仰、迷信观念和个性。我不会说传统是一个家庭的灵魂，因为这些年来那些传统的精神可能已经丢失了。然而，那些传统构成了你身份的一部分，而且无论你是否知道那些传统产生的原因或方式，它们能让人对一个家庭获得立体的理解，这是那些系谱学者和家族史学家所重视的。
You’ve probably already thought to document some of those traditions by taking pictures of family gatherings at holidays and festive times, but what about the food at those gatherings? Are there traditional dishes? What about the way in which those gatherings and holidays unfold? Often traditions are simple things that no one remembers to document. Think about weddings, for example. Is there something the family always does, something unique, some tradition that isn’t usual-ly part of the ceremony and therefore goes undocumented? If a certain person has a particular role in the tradition, document that too. If you know how and when the tradition began write it down in your heritage album.
你大概也已经想到了在节假日家庭聚会时通过拍照这种方式，记录其中的一些传统吧？但家庭聚会上的那些菜怎么样？其中有传统菜式吗？那些聚会和假日的庆祝方式又如何？通常传统都是一些细微的东西，以至没有人想到要把它们记录下来。比如，想想在婚礼的过程中，是不是有些每个家庭都总会做的特别的事？是不是有某个通常不是仪式的一部分因而没有被记录下来的传统？如果某个人在那个传统中扮演着特殊的角色，也一并记录下来。如果你知道这个传统是何时以及怎么开始的，也在你的族谱上记录下来吧。
Pictures and journaling are both great ways to document your family’s traditions, but don’t forget that they don’t have to be exclusive of one another. For example, you could include a family recipe next to a picture of the dish or someone preparing it. Also, stories of family traditions can be included in your photo album or 4)scrapbook, with a photo and the story behind that photo sharing a page.
照片和日志是两种记录你的家庭传统的重要方式，但别忘了，这两种方式并不互相抵触。例如，你可以在一道菜或者某人在准备那道菜的照片旁边放上一份家族菜谱。关于家庭传统的故事也可以被加进你的相册或者剪贴薄里，一张照片以及相关的故事放在同一页上。
When you document your traditions you can be as simple or as elaborate as you wish. Even the color of the paper you choose for the background of your pictures can have special meaning. Perhaps you can even include symbols that convey the meaning of your family traditions.
你可以根据自己的意愿简单地或是详细地记录下你的传统。甚至你为你的照片挑选的用作背景的纸张的颜色也可以有特殊的意义。也许你甚至还可以添加些能传达你那些家庭传统的含义的符号。
Traditions aren’t exclusive to holidays or weddings, though. Remember, your everyday family life holds traditions too and these often are the ones you rarely think about. Because people move away from their extended families, traditions are lost, which is why it is important to document them whether they are active traditions or not. You don’t have to have photographs to show your children or grandchildren of what the “Sunday family dinner” at your grandmother’s house was like, or the traditional snowball fights you and your cousins had after church in the winter. Just record in a journal your memories of the traditions, even the small ones that the family used to have. They’ll thank you for writing them down.
然而，传统并不仅仅局限于假日或者婚礼。记住：你每天的家庭生活里也包含了传统，而这些传统通常都是你很少会想起的。因为人们搬离了他们的大家庭，传统丢失了，这就是为什么无论传统是否依然起作用，都应当记录下来的原因。你不需要通过照片为你的孩子或者孙子展示在你祖母家举行的“周日家庭宴会”是什么样子或者你和你的表兄妹们在冬日礼拜后打的传统的雪仗。只要在一篇日志里记下你对于那些家庭里惯有的哪怕是很微小的传统的记忆就行了。后辈们会感谢你把它们都记了下来。
Be sure to document through pictures and journaling those new traditions you and your fa-mily have created. And if you don’t think you have any new traditions, think again! I was amazed when my children began talking about how we “always” hang balloons from the dining room 5)chandelier for their birthdays, or how we “always” play games throughout the evening on New Year’s Eve. I hadn’t thought of those things as traditions but through the years they have become just that. If you think about it, you’ve probably created a lot of new traditions out of necessity or convenience, but you hadn’t thought of them as “traditions” at all. Make sure to document them! Through journaling, you can tell future generations—even if it’s just a few lines 6)jotted next to the picture—how and why these traditions began.
一定要通过照片和日志记录下你和家人创造的那些新传统。如果你觉得家里没有什么新传统，再仔细想想！当我的孩子开始谈论我们“总是”在他们生日时往饭厅里的枝形吊灯上挂气球，或者我们“总是”在新年前夜通宵玩游戏时，我惊讶极了。我之前没有把那些东西看作是传统，但经年累月，它们确实成了传统。如果你想想，你会发现自己很可能出于必要或是为了图方便，已经创造出了一大堆新传统，但你之前从不认为它们是“传统”。一定要记下它们！通过日志——即使只是点缀在照片旁边的几行字——你可以告诉后辈们这些传统是如何以及为什么开始的。
And traditions aren’t just for grown-ups. Children have them too and they, in turn, hand them down to their children. One of our children’s traditions is really a superstition, as many traditions are: On winter evenings when snow is predicted for the next morning, our children drink hot chocolate and wear their pajamas inside out to insure a “snow day” off school the following day. Taking pictures of your kids in the act of their traditions not only is great fun, but it preserves them for future generations as well. Write about these traditions, or let the children jot down an explanation themselves in an album next to the picture. They’ll love it, and some day so will their great-grandchildren.
另外，传统并不仅仅是对成人而言。孩子们也有自己的传统，他们接着也会把那些传统传给自己的孩子。我们孩子的其中一个传统正如许多别的传统一样其实是一种迷信：在冬夜里，当天气预报说第二天早上会下雪，我们的孩子就会喝热巧克力饮料，并把他们的睡衣反过来穿，以确保第二天下雪，这样他们就可以不用去上课了。如果你把你的孩子在实践他们的传统时的场面拍下来，不仅会很好玩，还能为后代保存那些传统。在相册里的一张照片旁记录下这些传统，或者让孩子们自己简单地给照片作些说明，他们将会爱上这本相册。将来的某一天，他们的曾孙也会爱上它。
