Keep holiday traditions alive for future generations

The end-of-year holiday season is a wonderful, yet stressful time of year. As far back as I can remember, my mother loved Christmas — the decorating, the baking and taking photos with Santa and the grandkids at the mall.

My father loved the holidays, too, but we could count on him being in a foul mood as Christmas Eve rolled around. Something inevitably would go wrong with his rib roast or some other dish. Too overdone, too salty, too this or too that. But he would perk up when it was time to take the family photo around the Christmas tree and when his children or grandkids opened their gifts.

It was a scene that played out pretty much every year.

Mom, Ellen Tangonan, always loved to pick out the fullest Noble Fir. She would use at least five or six strands of lights to ensure every inch of that tree sparkled. She never drove so she always sent our dad, Richard, to the florist to pick up at least four bunches of baby’s breath, which she added to the tree for a snow-like effect after the ornaments were hung.

I never asked, but I’m sure their electricity use was significantly higher during December. At some point they switched to LED light strands for the tree, which are safer and more energy-efficient because they don’t emit as much heat.

When she was healthy, our mom was a brownie-baking machine at Christmastime. She sifted flour, melted butter and added her secret ingredients to produce batch after batch of her famous macadamia nut brownies for their vendors, customers (they ran a lunch wagon, Sassy Kassy for 27 years), family and friends — even the tellers at the bank.

Mama never made just one batch at a time. She had enough energy savvy to know that once the oven hit the right temperature, it was more efficient to keep it on and bake several batches. So that’s what she did.

Daddy always handled the outside lighting. He would string old-fashioned multicolored bulbs along the front trim of their Ewa Beach home. He also hung lights on a tree next to the mailbox. You can find affordable LED strands at Hawaii Energy, which offers several energy-efficient products online.

Dad was a human timer, faithfully turning off the lights before bedtime. These days, all your holiday decorations that require electricity can be put on a smart timer, ensuring they don’t stay on all night when everyone’s asleep. It’ll save electricity and help to lower your energy bill.

As Christmas draws near, I’m looking forward to putting up our own Noble Fir and hanging the delicate glass ornaments that mom allowed us to pick out every year when we were growing up. I’ll likely buy some baby’s breath as well, although not as many bunches as mom would use.

Christmas just won’t be the same this year. Daddy passed away in January after suffering a stroke, and mom, whose health had declined over the past several years, died peacefully during one of her morning naps in June.

But I want them to know that their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will carry on their rich holiday traditions. We may not have mom’s brownie or dad’s rib roast techniques mastered, but the memories we have of them making sure our Christmases were special will be with us forever.

I wish you and yours the happiest of holidays. Keep your loved ones close and tell them you love them. Thank goodness I always did that with Mama and Daddy.