Traditions are big in the Cooper family.

Last December marked our 52nd round-trip drive—twice a year for the past 26 years—from Colorado to Arkansas to spend the holidays with other members of the clan. Later this month, on Memorial Day, we'll line up again at the starting line of the Bolder Boulder 10K race. On Labor Day weekend, our extended family will pack into a cabin in the mountains, play horseshoes, and take the dogs for walks along the stream. The day after Thanksgiving, we'll hike through the snow to find the perfect Christmas tree to cut down and drag back to the car.

Earlier this spring, for the last time before he heads off to college, I met my son at Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the opening-round games of "March Madness"—the NCAA basketball tournament. Frankly, the likely conclusion of that longtime tradition left me feeling a little melancholy. It started way back when my son was in elementary school. I'd write him a note for "early release," then pick him up in the early afternoon. We never hid the reason from the attendance office. Some school personnel rolled their eyes. Others just smiled.