This past year is not one many people will fondly remember. Everyone has had to make some sort of sacrifice in 2020. When the world returns back to normalcy, the everyday things that people do will never be taken for granted again.
As cases spiked over the fall, the way WJ students would celebrate Thanksgiving had to change. For some students, if they had family gatherings, they made sure that people who visited had masks on.
Senior William Le detailed how he celebrated Thanksgiving.
“My older siblings are coming home for Thanksgiving and we are going to try to stick to our traditions of making food together. We are going to have to wear masks though because one of my siblings lives in New York and another goes to UMD,” Le said.
This past year has been anything but normal and as the calendar approaches the holidays, The WJ community hopes for a normal holiday. Celebrating Thanksgiving is a yearly tradition; whether it be celebrating with immediate family or extended family, it is something comforting that takes the stress off of a person’s mind.
There is a common theme in how students celebrated Thanksgiving this year. A lot say that they will do something normal: have regular guests over or have a normal dinner. Sophomore Sanir Byanjankar is one of them.
“I’ll probably have a regular dinner with my family. We might be inviting some uncles and aunts. I miss doing normal things like seeing my family members,” Byanjankar said.
Social interaction has been so limited this year that having dinner with family members won’t be taken for granted.
Many people have family who travel to where they live for Thanksgiving, while many others travel to other family members to celebrate the holiday.
Junior Becca Scherr explains what she did for Thanksgiving.
“For Thanksgiving my family and I went to Florida for Thanksgiving, to celebrate with other family members we haven’t seen in a while,” Scherr said.
Travel right now is difficult and gatherings with family are not recommended. However, if people take the right precautions by social distancing and wearing masks, the chances of spreading or receiving the disease will be minimized.
This time of year is special for many people. It is a time where people can see family members they haven’t seen all year. Celebrating the holidays like Thanksgiving has been different this year than any year before.
