New Family Tradition
How It Started for Us
My father gave our family our first set of hearts for Christmas, accompanied by this letter.
To My Amazing Family:
Merry Christmas! Madison and I have the great tradition of exchanging a "you are loved" keychain when we are feeling down or have a challenging day ahead, and I wanted to do something for the whole family so we can all share this idea too. I know when I am having a bad day and feel the keychain in my pocket, it makes me smile, helps me remember what is most important, and reminds me that I have love and hugs waiting for me when I get home. I got these hearts for us all to share. Whenever anyone wants to take a hug along with them for the day, they can take a heart from the bowl. If anyone wants to give a hug for someone to take along for the day, they can give one from the bowl. If you have a heart, you can put it back at the end of the day or keep it in your pocket or bag for as long as you want. We have a lot so it's no big deal if one gets lost, and we can always get more.
I love you all the most. Thanks for giving me the most amazing life ever!
Love, Dad
What We Are Hoping to Do
We are hoping to help create this connection among many families and other groups of people. We established a tradition where our family of five gives hearts to each other each morning, parents to kids and kids to parents. Everyone receives a heart and gives a heart, and carries it through the day. This story is not meant to be a rule book on how to use them, rather inspiration on ways to incorporate them into your family's life. We would love to hear the ways each family adopts these hearts into their lives.
Another note we want to add. We understand that price may be an issue. If that is the case, we recommend going to a place that is special to your family and collecting some similar memento that can be used in the same way. For example, go to a river near your house and have each person collect a few stones that could fit in a pocket.