Personal Narrative: The Progressive Tradition

Even generations ago, my family members realized how difficult it was to fit in time to see distant family members. That’s why since my great grandmother was around, we’ve spent one day during the holiday season participating in what we call The Progressive. As the tradition goes, each family is required to prepare one part of the traditional five course meal, the assignment of which rotates between the families each year. Each family prepares their part of the meal and hosts it at their home, allowing the entire family to visit everyone’s home and “progress” through one giant five course meal throughout the course of the day. It has, without a doubt, provided some of my family’s favorite stories throughout the years while allowing us to reflect on the year’s past with each other. Although it has been around since my grandparents were children, it has changed drastically since it’s inception those many years ago.
Although originally unchanged for decades, the tradition recently began to undergo a series
In The Lottery, the younger and more progressive people, as well as those that lived in the adjacent village, began to stop seeing the point in continuing the lottery. This is why there was talk about the cancellation of the event altogether. However, it was the older generation, particularly Old Man Warren, who reminded the progressive people of the lottery’s historical significance in the hope of keeping them engaged. This story almost exactly matches the story of the change in my family’s Progressive. As there were subtle yet significant changes throughout recent years, the younger members of the family began to lose interest in the event. However, my grandfather and his generation reminded the young ones of how much the event meant to generations like his and his mother’s, again in the hope of keeping them