for the Home Holidays
student life
I
Winter holiday celebrations for North students are celebrated differently this year.
n past years, families would gather together from different locations and commemorate their unique winter holiday. But this year, will celebrations look different? From Christmas to Lunar New Year, there are an assortment of traditions and sacrifices families plan to make during the winter holidays for 2020-2021. A deeper look into the experiences of several families’ winter traditions is included in each of the features below.
Diwali
Also known as The Festival of Lights, the holiday Diwali signifies how good prevails over evil, according to senior Madhu Parthasarathy. Diwali took place Nov. 14 and is a five-day festival celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains around the world. There are many different versions of the holiday, but for the Parthasarathys, Diwali is a celebration of light. The light is used to represent the good lighting up the darkness, Parthasarathy said. In this abnormal time of a world pandemic, the celebrations of Diwali looked somewhat different from past years. This year, families across the United States celebrated by sending positive social media messages to one another instead of meeting in large gatherings, and also by having Zoom calls. The Parthasarathys usually don’t celebrate with the whole family, so COVID-19 did not have a major effect on the celebration this year, allowing them to still have a glimpse of light during this isolating time. Some of their traditions include the lighting of lamps and cooking traditional dishes. “We lit lamps, and there is a tradition where you wear new clothes on the day,” Parthasarathy said. “And it varies between North and South India because the cuisines are so different, but for us we make fried lentil cakes, and we make some sweets, too.” The celebrations for Diwali this year looked many ways around the world, but for the Parthasarathys, the holiday was almost the same for 2020.
Thanksgiving
The aroma of croissant rolls and turkey flood through the Patterson household as they prepare for their annual Thanksgiving meal. They mingle with their extended family as
The Pattersons Junior Abby Patterson poses with her dog, Buster. "We bought a costume for Buster five years ago and put it on him every year to celebrate," Patterson said.
24 | The North Star | December 2020
By Kara Deskin
the dinner is cooking and enjoy each other’s presence during the holiday, according to sophomore Abi Patterson. “It’s really upsetting because I love seeing my family,” Abi Patterson said. “But I probably won’t get to see them this year because of COVID. We don’t want to expose my grandpa.” The Pattersons usually spend Thanksgiving putting up Christmas decorations, cooking their favorite meals and having everyone in the family watch senior Isaac Patterson’s basketball games, including the extended family. “This year was a lot different because usually I have games or early 8 a.m. practices,” Isaac Patterson said. “But this year we didn’t do much. I felt fortunate to be around my family, and we did our best to stay safe.” Despite the challenge of not getting to celebrate with the extended family this year, the Pattersons planned to celebrate with their immediate family by cooking meals and reminiscing about what they are thankful for in 2020. “We eat turkey and my brother usually eats like 15 croissant rolls,” Abi Patterson said. “But this year, we ate mac and cheese, stuffing, turkey, pumpkin pie cheesecake, and lots of other sides.” Abi Patterson also used the holiday to give thanks to those she was thankful for. “I am thankful for my family because they have all been so positive during this time,” Abi Patterson said. “I am also thankful that the teachers have been so flexible, too.”
Hanukkah
For freshman Jaden Jacobson, Hanukkah signifies the union of her family. The holiday is also celebrated to remember the miracle of candles that lasted eight days, instead of just one. But according to Jacobson, Hanukkah is not the most important holiday celebrated by Jewish people. “Yom Kippur and Passover are more important,” Jacobson said. “But Hanukkah usually brings us all together, more than just my immediate family.” The origin of the holiday derives from a miracle that occurred during the second century B.C. when the Jews rose up against their Greek-Syrian tyrants.
The Summers
Senior Grace Summers and her cousins open gifts by the Christmas tree. "We took this picture many years ago at the family farm," Summers said.
