Graphic by Dina Kats
Sunny Tian & Rana Moeinzad
Features Reporters
Traveling to visit family and large gatherings are a part of many families’ traditions. Especially during the holiday season, being around friends and family creates yearly customs, funny stories, or moments to look back on, and these traditions are some of the things students look forward to the most each year,
The past year has been nothing but crazy due to Covid-19. People around the world -South students included- have adjusted their lives around the pandemic which has led to changes and cancelations of the typical gatherings and vacations.
Maya Hernandez, a Senior at South, shares some of her family’s traditions during the holiday seasons. “We usually split up where some years, we go to my uncle’s house and some years we go to my aunt’s house. We would usually cook, eat, play board games, or play Just Dance,” Hernandez said.
“I usually go to my uncle’s house for Christmas and sometimes we stay there overnight for Christmas morning, but we always go for Christmas dinner. During the winter, I always go up to my ski house in New Hampshire,” Senior Madeline Loughin similarly explained.
Although limited traveling and gatherings were still allowed during the pandemic, Covid still had a major impact on many plans regarding holiday traditions and vacations. It made it harder to meet up with friends and family that don’t live nearby safely with social distancing guidelines and constant trips were canceled.
Sophomore Ellie Bacon recalls the trips she and her family planned for 2020 and ultimately missed out on saying, “This past year, we were supposed to go to Ireland, but it got canceled in March when Corona first started getting bad. In the summer, we go on another big vacation. This past year we were supposed to go to Hungary and Austria, but that also got canceled and we were supposed to go with some of our family friends.”
The luxury of discovering new places is something that many South Students are fortunate enough to look forward to doing; however, smaller traditions of visiting family have also been hindered due to the virus for people worldwide.
“For winter break, my family and I usually travel to New Jersey to visit my mom’s side of the family, or they come here and we celebrate Christmas together. But this past year, we couldn’t see each other because of Corona,” Bacon added.
Even though Covid-19 has created lots of obstacles throughout its time, families have tried to adapt and somewhat continue their yearly events in newer and more creative ways that wouldn’t be affected by Covid. Different and unique traditions have emerged in each household which has made the gloomy holiday seasons a little more cheerful.
“Now that we have time at home and we are not running around busy with things like school and sports, [my family and I] just relax on the couch while a movie is playing or something,” Junior Neil Chavan said. With more time on our hands, many families have relaxed and spent more time together in general.
Bacon shares some of her family’s new traditions stating, “Every week or every other week, [my family and I] make homemade pizza from scratch and we’ll also have some movie nights. We’ll make big bowls of popcorn and then watch our favorite shows and movies.” Bacon also agrees with Chavan. Without a busy and uptight schedule, it’s been really nice to have a more relaxing lifestyle. “Now that life has kinda slowed down a little bit, I feel like we get to spend more time with each other which I really enjoy,” Bacon explained.
Communication during the global pandemic has also been a challenge for families all over the world, so keeping in touch virtually is now also part of many families’ traditions. With additional time at home, there is more time to talk to distant relatives and friends.
With all the new types of technology, some families have adapted to new traditions of communicating through platforms such as Zoom and rearranging calls once in a while to chat or celebrate for special occasions.
Even though her family doesn’t have regularly scheduled calls, Bacon’s family still celebrates when they can. “The last big Zoom call we had was for Mother’s Day last year. We all just talked and hung out, it was very nice,” said Bacon.
Keeping in touch has been very important in Hernandez’s family as well. “We would have Google Duos,” Hernandez claimed. “We would meet with my grandmother a lot and we would do Google Duos with everyone so they could talk to her. During the holidays, we did a Google Duo which was kinda chaotic because there were a lot of babies crying in the background.” Using software such as Zoom and Google Duos, families continue to see each other virtually and somewhat maintain their family traditions during these hard times.
Chavan, who has never been keen to talk to family on the phone with his parents, still participates in family calls as well. “My mom is pretty intense about Zooming with people, like my aunt in Washington DC. My dad and I aren’t as intense about it, but we still say hi and talk for a little,” Chavan admits.
Aside from video calling, texting, social media, and simple voice calls were also used by many to not only stay in touch but also meet new people. Hernandez explains that “for communicating in general, [her family and her] just text each other.” She also shares her experience of meeting new people through her family on social media. “I play a lot of video games with my cousin and I feel like that was one way to connect with him. I met his friends over videogames which was funny.”
Loughlin, who hasn’t seen her family who she regularly visited before Covid, said that her “mom and [her] aunt talk a lot over the phone and that’s how [they] stay in touch.”
Clearly, all families have made efforts to reach out to their loved ones during the Covid pandemic. Thanks to technology and programs that help with socializing, people were still able to spend their break and typical tradition-holding time with others, even though physical, in-person traveling and meet-ups were put on hold.
As everyday routines were interrupted, many realized how important their family traditions truly are. Yet despite all the new changes, creatively keeping old traditions alive while also starting new ones, has greatly helped families create a sense of normalcy.
