By Diana Abraham
Happy Holidays to all! December is a time when friends and family gather to enjoy the holidays together. Whether it be through cozy gatherings or ostentatious shindigs, the holidays are still a great time to be with loved ones. In order to find out how others view the holidays, I asked a few of my friends two simple questions: how do you celebrate the holidays and what do you think is the best way to celebrate them?
Responses to “How do you celebrate the holidays?”:
Ben Mulick, a sophomore at James Caldwell High School: Ben said he enjoyed the holidays by “singing at Christmas Eve service, exchanging gifts with family and friends, and decorating my Christmas tree with my family, as well as spending all of Christmas Day with my family.”
Kassie Sarkar, a junior at James Caldwell High School: Kassie unfortunately replied to the question with this statement: “I don’t celebrate holidays. School consumes any of my free time.” Through text format Kassie also added a smiley face at the end of her statement to add some black humor to her gloomy holiday season. She has requested that the smiley face be included, “:)”. However, Kassie’s life will become only this bleak due to the extraneous amount of homework that she predicts she will be assigned during her holiday break. Kassie Sarkar is usually content around the holidays but now she is wary of her workload.
Julia D’Aprix, a junior at James Caldwell High School: Julia, unlike Kassie, celebrates the holidays with a smile on her face and hopefully less school-work. Julia has told me that she celebrated the holidays with the Vince Guaraldi’s Charlie Brown Soundtrack. In addition to decorating her Christmas tree with antique ornaments, spending quality time with her family on Christmas day, she especially loves watching “Babes in Toyland” Christmas morning with her father (an annual tradition for the D’Aprixs). Also, Julia’s mother bakes delicious bread and pudding around the holidays which brings even more merriness into the D’Aprix household.
Emma Stevens, a junior at James Caldwell High School: Emma Stevens celebrates the holidays in a different way. Instead of staying home, she goes up to Indian Lake, New York to spend time with her family and detox from the stress of school and work.
Megan West, a junior at James Caldwell High School: Megan West replied to the question simply, with two words: “with food.”
Responses to “What is the best way to celebrate them?”:
Ben Mulick: “The best way to celebrate holidays is with love and compassion for the ones you might not always love; celebrate it with people you’ve known for your whole life and do what you’ve been doing; give reason and live behind each celebration you do for the holidays.”
Kassie Sarkar: “I think it’s best to hang out with people you like”.
Julia D’Aprix: “The best ways to celebrate the holidays is with a lot of tinsel/glittery decor, classic holiday music, and being with family and friends who care and share with you the festivities and traditions that make you feel good inside.”
Emma Stevens: “ A great way to spend the holidays is with friends and family you don’t see often and relax a little bit.”
Megan West: “The best way to celebrate the holidays is with family and friends.”
Although we all have different ways to celebrate this December, always remember that all we need during this season are our family and friends. Whether you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah or even Kwanzaa, being around loved ones truly makes the holiday a holiday. Happy Holidays!
