The Covid-19 crisis has affected every single person in countless ways throughout the past nine months.  We have faced significant change in our personal lives, school communities, and in every aspect of the world around us.  The changes that we have been trying to face and deal with have become especially hard, however, during the midst of the holiday season.  With Thanksgiving just behind us and Christmas in our near horizons, the modifications that we have been forced to make are challenging our minds and hearts in many ways, especially with our families.

Not being able to see many of our loved ones during this holiday season is a major challenge that we all are being forced to accept.  Most years, my family hosts Thanksgiving, usually serving around fifty people. My grandmother, aunts, uncles, cousins, and other relatives always join together for an entire day of celebrating this beautiful holiday.  However, this past Thanksgiving, my father, mother, and brother sat around our table, just the four of us, with more food than we could ever think of eating.  In addition, Christmas is a time when my family, as well as many others, enjoy hosting and attending various festive events throughout the season.  Facing the reality of the limitations that Covid-19 is forcing upon us all, the Christmas season will too be extremely different.  Seeing our loved ones, friends, and showing our gratitude for all those who make our life very special is one of the hallmarks of the festivity and charm of the holidays. Although we cannot spend much time in person with our beloved families, we all can make a great effort to call, write letters, send cards, orchestrate drive by’s, and think of many other creative ways that we can express our love to those we truly care about.  Instead of looking at this holiday season as one of seclusion and moderation, we should all try to switch our lens to that of understanding and appreciating the sacredness of our fleeting lives, and spend as much quality time with our precious immediate family units as we can!