While the New Year may involve parties, music, friends, (hangovers), undecorating, it also frequently involves a commitment to “resetting”. You’ll see below a pattern from amongst our team when they were asked for “a sentence about how your 2021 holidays were special”.
Family and community are two of the most significant social institutions in the development and daily lives of individuals. Together they shape who we are, instill us with values, define what we consider to be normal and abnormal and teach us about what is possible and not possible. Our families and communities print the many inner maps that we carry to orient ourselves to the world.[1]
- My 2021 holidays were special mainly due to the extra time I had to spend with family and friends. You only get so much time with your kids/family and I enjoyed having extra time to hang out with them.
- We had our daughter back from school for a couple weeks and got to enjoy our time with her.
- Spending time with family and friends around and on the holidays is always special because we don’t always get to see these folks during the year. Family and friends seem to come back home during the holidays and it allows us to not only see one another but also to remind them of how much they mean to us!
- My 2021 holiday was special because it was the first year I got to spend it as a father with my amazing baby girl and my beautiful fiancé who both mean the world to me.
- I was able to travel to see my son and granddaughter. It was a joy for me to experience things new to her through her eyes.
- I’m grateful for the extra time with my Family, it was truly a blessing!
- Time off work while the kids were home was wonderful!
- We were able to spend time with my husband’s side of our family for the first time in a few years (darn COVID).
- I was blessed with having my family in good health. We enjoyed making home-cooked meals while catching up on life.
- My 2021 holidays were special because we were able to enjoy time with our loved ones.
- We enjoyed a very warm holiday with our family in sunny Florida. It was Awesome to be in shorts and a t-shirt on Christmas Day!
- Despite COVID I was able to meet a new family member, my great nephew and his parents who traveled from out of state to be with the extended family for the holiday…YES, we were either vaccinated or received a negative COVID test prior.
- Spending my holidays with my family and with a new home made it so special.
- Our first year as “empty nesters” and it was GREAT. We went to our son’s house to open gifts with their children, ate their food, and went home to a clean house!!!
- This was my family’s first Christmas with our newborn son.
- The opportunity to have a Christmas Party for the Stahl Team, and have everyone show up, was amazing. This started a renewing of hope and faith for a return to normalcy. Then, to spend Christmas with the entire family, as in years past, again validated that we are coming out of this pandemic, one that imparted much pain and suffering, especially to children. I closed out the holidays (wedding anniversary – 47 years, also New Year’s) with my immediate family, quietly showing appreciation for all that I’ve been given. We had a great time.
One can’t help but wonder, did we all have this same level of appreciation for family before the onset of 2020 (when people were told to avoid contact with one another)? Has a virus prompted many of us to “click refresh”? It’s said that out of a bad situation, something good often comes. But you may have to look for it.
[1] Miller, Joshua (2001) “Family and Community Integrity,” The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 28 : Iss. 4 , Article 3. Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol28/iss4/3
