“Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.”

As we prepare to celebrate another holiday, I’m sure this is the tale of so many homes this season. Many are afraid to put themselves at risk by visiting others and some are more concerned with putting others at risk. As an educator, it has been necessary to limit my contact for the sake of my family and also for the sake of the students that come to school daily and expect me to keep them safe.

In continuing to press forward in the midst of a pandemic, my family opted to cancel all large gatherings and many of us are celebrating with our immediate families only, if at all. Christmas Eve was always a time of fellowship for my immediate family before we joined our extended family on Christmas. However, for the remainder of the year, we will continue to gather with only close family as we have been doing since August. We have created our small bubble in a effort to stay out of harm’s way so there will be no extended family for the remainder of 2020.

This is definitely a transformation for my tribe. According to my husband, my clan has family reunions every month. We are accustomed to gathering and enjoying the company of each other to a great extent. So one can imagine how much we’ve had to pivot for safety reasons. As we prepare for Christmas and the New Year, our homes are going to be silenced by the scare of Covid. We’ll send tons of greetings but no hugs and kisses will be shared. Many rooms will stay empty and unoccupied of the laughter and booming voices that define us. We, like many others, will sit with only memories of past holidays that were filled with an unspeakable joy.

While we are missing family, my small unit will make the most of the upcoming holidays with each other. We’ll pray, laugh, eat, play games, watch movies and most importantly, laugh some more. We will make this year one to remember as we’ve done so many times before. This season will serve as reminder of the real reason for the season and to never take anything for granted again. How are you celebrating this season? Are you taking advantage of the opportunities to travel? Are you spending time with extended family? Or are you trying to figure out what do the lonely do at Christmas?