1. Beyond the fact of Covid. This has been a year from hell for my family, especially the past few months. Lost both my parents, and my girls lost their dad, plus two cats, and a few family friends, within a month and a half. No deaths were covid related. Plus I broke my foot in two places. It’s all ok.

   Next year we will probably start some new things but mostly everyone is trying to work as much as possible. I think I’ll be having dinner at my daughter’s house but one daughter may not come to town depending on the covid issue or if her guy is working or not. Hopefully by Christmas we’ll have things more planned. I feel bad for my aunt because she is in assistant living and lost her brother and wife (my parents). She still gave everyone money for Christmas but can’t see family. We’re trying to see her as much as possible but the little ones can’t come in so the girls have to have someone watch the kids.

   We will figure it out but it may be more next year. We are a very thankful family still.

2. My family will keep all of our traditions, including going out of state to family get together
   s. I have a daughter in college that will be coming home for the holidays. Covid is not going to ruin our plans!

3. I will send Christmas cards as usual to family and friends, listen to Christmas music and think about the reason for the season, help my daughter decorate our tree, and my daughter and I will bake several different batches of cookies plus a birthday cake for baby Jesus.

4. In this time of covid, what holiday traditions in your family and friends are you going to preserve?

   We celebrated Thanksgiving in October & still saw our family. We plan to see all our families on the 3 different days for Christmas because there the only people we stay close to & we don’t celebrate New Year’s other then just ar home with our main family.

5. It will be an isolated Holiday. Our daughter in Chapel Hill, NC won’t be able to join us this year. Her family always comes up to spend Christmas Eve with her husband’s family, then comes here Christmas Day and spends a few days. We have 2 other children dn their families who live nearby, but we will be saying a remote Merry Christmas. We usually all have Christmas dinner together and then open gifts. Our remote daughter is going to arrange a ZOOM call for us all at the time we usually open gifts. I have already sent a few gifts to NC and will be getting the final box ready to ship. I will have the gifts for the others wrapped and in boxes for them to come by and pick up. I did much of my shopping months ago. As for decorations, we hope to get the outdoor lights and decorations up by Thanksgiving. We may not have more than just a small tree and a nativity set for inside decorations. It will be a quieter than usual holiday, but a good one just the same.
   I hope you and yours have a wonderful Holiday season from Thanksgiving through New Year.

6. I will continue to send out Christmas cards to family, friends, doctors’ offices, etc. It’s well worth the expense to let people know that you care.

7. Because we’re spread out across 3 or 4 states, we don’t all come together for holidays like we did when y mother was alive. Her house was the center the whole family gravitated to. Since she died, I’ve started sending her holiday baked treats (poppyseed rolls and nut rolls) to my brothers and sisters, and brothers- and sisters-in-law, and even to a few cousins whose mothers raised them with the same Slovak holiday traditions. it’s a way to remember my mother and aunts, and to send everyone a “taste of home” even when we no longer come together for the holidays. As everyone has grown older, and their kids and grandkids have scattered too, my sister sends our family’s Christmas cookies, and other relatives have sent me other types of holiday foods, that keep us together in spirit, even if we can’t travel like we used to.

8. We will certainly miss our 25 people gathering this year. However, we will try to ZOOM everyone for a hello. I always do a Christmas Nativity scene with many statues of in period dress and buildings. The family has come to think of it as our family tradition as few have the passion and energy to do it. I have actually put it up earlier than ever this year to try and remember the reason for the season and will send pictures to family so they know the tradition marches on.

9. Our city is a Covid hotspot at the moment so we are putting our usual gatherings on hold for now. I will make all the traditional goodies like a Christmas cake, mince pies, cookies etc. We will most likely have a low key Christmas this year.

10. We will get a tree with our younger daughter and her 2 boys. Bake cookies with grandson. Christmas dinner & open presents with them too. No Christmas Eve service with family and friends. Son & his wife will drive up from CA to spend Christmas with us. Older daughter and her family are social distancing.

11. Our holidays will be very different this year due to COVID 19 as I live with and take care of my 97 year old Mom. Two of my sisters are actively in the medical field, they are unable to leave New York and New Jersey. Of course my Mom and I worry about them being on the frontlines BUT what I will do to make our holidays better is: Put up a tree, put out my cat’s stocking so Mom can laugh at him trying to get his gifts out, eat a nice dinner, hopefully visit my sister who lives 10 minutes away, phone my two sisters and let Mom talk to them for a long time. I also know that in our family we will be saying a lot more prayers this year not for our family but that all families have a Christmas filled with loads of good memories and good health!

12. Our Christmas traditions will stay the same except with a few less people than we would normally have.

13. Have a small group about 3-5 people come to join us for a Christmas morning brunch and exchange small gifts.

14. We do not live close to family, so things will be the same as always for us… just the immediate family.

15. Continue to celebrate with families. Because you never know when a loved one’s last Chritmas will be. I refuse to live in fear. Have faith!

16. Ours will be pretty much the same except for our Christmas Eve service at church. We will not be attending. Our kids (two), their spouses (two); and our two grandchildren and my husband and I will be together with as we usually do.

17. Every year I do gingerbread houses with my grandkids. I put the houses together and they decorate with frostings, candy and whatever. The oldest is now 27 and the youngest 2 are 6 and 7. Only the 2 “littles” are keeping the tradition going. And we have added their 2 cousins — 7 and 9. They started getting excited about decorating the houses before Halloween was over!

    The Christmas tree is my least favorite thing for me to do, so the grandkids (who are available) decorate. They talk about the ornaments that have been on the tree for years. The “littles” are the most entertaining —- their comments are hilarious!

    Christmas Eve is at my house with my sons and their families. Somehow they have developed the tradition (?) of wadding up wrapping paper balls and throwing them at each other! Much to my chagrin, they take great delight in this dubious activity!

18. Making homemade cookies

19. After my husband slipped to Heaven, I moved from our house on 5 1/2 acres to an Independent Living one bedroom apartment in a Continuing Care Community. Happy to say that decorated Christmas trees are everywhere throughout our building during the Christmas season. I have a very small tree and a few decorations throughout my apartment. I am already listening to Christmas music…a very BIG part of Christmas for me. Since family are in other states, we will still do telephone calls…maybe even FaceTime! I send money for the grands as keeping up with what teens want from week to week is impossible – LOL! During Covid meals are delivered to our door, so I am sure I will have a traditional Christmas dinner albeit alone. As long as I have Christmas music I am okay with everything as it has to be.
    Merry Christmas to all – and to all a good night!

20. putting up the nativity set

21. We are going to have a very small Christmas eve buffet and watch a movie if everyone is healthy.

22. In this time of covid, what holiday traditions in your family and friends are you going to preserve?

    Every year my friends from church and I do a “Christmas Cookie Swap”. This year because of the pademic rather eliminate the event altogether, we are turning it into an online recipe swap. Each of us will submit a favorite Christmas cookie recipe via email to the president of our church ladies guild who will compile them into an e-newsletter that will be sent to everyone who belongs to the guild.

    Another modified church Christmas project… Instead of collecting toys in person to contribute to the local police station’s annual toy drive, we will are all chipping in whatever amount we can afford and mailing the detective in charge of the drive a check that he can use to purchase toys from a company who has promised to cut him a good deal as an holiday charity.

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