Traditions

My great-grandmother was born in 1900 and grew up in the shadows of Bunker Hill Monument in Boston. She was the only child of Doctor Allen and grew up attending finishing schools and those sorts of things. I have recently discovered that, unbenownst to my great-grandmother, there was a covert group of people who had a yearly tradition of jumping into Boston Harbor on New Years Day. In fact, the tradition started years before my great-grandmother was even born. I don't have any reason to believe that she ever participated in that tradition or even knew about it. However, there were pictures of people from her time period jumping into the icy Boston Harbor.

Fast forward a little over a century to New Years 2008. My sister, Ginette, and I were both home for Christmas break and decided to break the annual tradition of dull New Year's Eves and headed to Boston. We ended up running into several people we grew up with and were invited to join them for the 'Polar Bear Plunge'. Ginette and I were quite excited to go.

When we told mom, she refused to believe us until she saw it for herself. (It seems that my yearly tradition of April Fool's engagements is beginning to catch up with me.) Well, for those of you who join my mother's scepticism, I offer the following exhibits:

Exhibit 1: Before the plunge

(Bandits: Chantal, Luke, and Ginette)

Exhibit 2: The Plunge



Exhibit 3: After the Plunge

(Luke, Chantal, and Ginette soaking wet)

Anyone up for next year?