Throughout my life my family has valued Traditions within the family.  One of my family's biggest Traditions is on Christmas.  Every year when I was little until I went into Middle School my parents would do Elf on the Shelf and I remember the day that we received it in a book and we got to name it.  This felt very magical and special to me and ever since I was a little kid I always wanted to be an elf. Obviously now that time is over because I know that Santa's not real but I think it still holds Great Value in my heart and family even though the tradition has come to an end we still put the Elf on the Shelf out just as a remembrance to our old tradition and our culture. When I was a little kid every morning from December 1st until December 25th my mom and dad would move our Elf on the Shelf. All of this was done inside of our house and it really made our home feel like a home during the Christmas times. It made our home feel magical and safe and complete. I believe that the elf on the shelf to me  holds Great Value within my own family because of how special and complete it made our family feel. It brought us all together and me and my brothers when we were little kids looked up to the next morning all the way up to Christmas.

– Thomas Cordes

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more