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Every family has their own holiday rituals. Some of them are hilarious. For example, does your family have a ritual of take-no-prisoners chess matches and Monopoly games during the holidays? Or maybe your family has a unique way of decorating the tree?

There are also religious traditions. Who doesn’t have an insanely religious aunt or uncle who would make a great movie character?

• Did you fall in love with someone of a different race or background and have to flee the country just so you two could be together?

• How do you feel now about your family’s passed-down traditions and beliefs? How will those traditions affect your children?

• Did you have a religious awakening after a traumatic life event?

• Are there family feuds that continue from year to year at family gatherings?

• Are you so religious that people find you to be a fanatic?

• Did you refuse to date someone you really liked because you and this person did not share the same religion?

• Did you attend an awkward funeral for an eccentric relative?

• Is your birthday one of your favorite or least favorite holidays?

• Which holiday is more significant to you? Valentine’s Day or New Year’s Eve? Has that changed over the years?

Pieces of April is a fabulous movie about a daughter attempting to prepare a Thanksgiving dinner for her estranged family. Another example is A Christmas Story, which is a movie classic, from the memories of Jean Shepherd (based on the book of short stories In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash).

People love memorable vacation movies. Take the time to watch box-office hits such as Home Alone and any of the National Lampoon’s Vacation movies. These movies may be fictional, but audiences loved them!

• Do you have any funny vacation stories that you can share with the world?

• Was there ever a particular vacation that brought you so much pain that you wished you could have skipped it?

• Did you have a vacation that did not go as planned where one bad thing happened after another?