Welcome to our newest feature, Journey through Christmases Past. This series is a nostalgic celebration of the holidays we all remember...
- The history and traditions of the holiday.
- The décor that filled our homes.
- The toys that defined each decade.
- The television and movie shows that brightened the season.
- The outfits we adored (and the ones we definitely didn’t).
Happy Sunday! Guess what? We are only 201 days away from Christmas 2026!
Life is a hectic mess of work, work, and work. It's all good. I am blessed to have a chance to help people. We are also gearing up for our daughter's move for her first full-time job since graduating from college and passing her nursing exam. As I thought about the career she has chosen, my mind drifted back to the first year of the pandemic, how it changed Christmas, and about all the essential workers and frontline professionals who made a difference.
On January 1, 2020, we said hello to a new year, never anticipating what was to come. On March 13, the United States government declared a nationwide emergency, two days after the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the outbreak of a global pandemic.
Schools and businesses were shut down. Travel bans and stay-at-home orders were issued. And for the first time in my life, simple, everyday things were no longer possible: eating out, going to the movies, grocery shopping without the fear of diseases being transmitted, and getting in-person appointments with a doctor. People were learning from home, working from home, and seeking any way to spend time outside of their four walls.
But you know who didn't get to stay home:
- Healthcare workers and first responders, who worked long hours, often separated from their loved ones, sleeping in different places to protect their families.
- Grocery store workers, delivery drivers, and mail carriers who made sure we had what we needed as we sheltered in place or used curbside pickup.
- Scientists and researchers who worked to find a vaccine.
If you would like to read stories of some of these heroes, you can check out the TIME Coronavirus Heroes Collection or the report from MSNBC titled, "Honoring the Heroes of 2020."
The pandemic created a major surge in home improvements and a resurgence in homesteading. I paid $10 for a 5 lb bag of flour, and don't even get me started about the price of eggs and butter. Stuck at home, we needed to do something. In Massachusetts, real estate was declared essential within 72 hours of the shutdown, but it certainly wasn't business as usual, and our offices remained closed at least until fall.
By the spring of 2020, the country would begin its process of reopening in phases that would continue until Hawaii lifted its COVID restrictions in March of 2022. Slowly, we adjusted to the "new normal." The federal Public Health Emergency would not expire until May 2023.
Considering that the first publicly available COVID-19 vaccine was not available until December 14, 2020, Christmas that year looked and felt different. Though many yearned to get together, the fear of illness was all too real. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended avoiding large get-togethers. Churches faced strict capacity limits. There were no office parties or sitting on Santa's lap... despite Dr. Fauci declaring he had vaccinated Santa so that he could deliver presents. Instead, children had virtual visits with Santa. The Salvation Army instituted virtual red kettles to collect donations. Bloggers wrote posts with ideas on how to celebrate the holidays at home.
I recall seeing my social media feeds filled with people who decorated early that year. They needed to brighten the dark spot that the pandemic had created. I don't think we decorated early, but I appreciated the efforts of my friends across the globe. We had lost my father-in-law to COVID in April 2020, and it was an emotional time for us.
But Christmas 2020 did get people to slow down and appreciate things easily taken for granted. We reassessed our lives and what truly mattered. We checked in on each other. We sent handwritten cards and baked for our neighbors. We drove around looking at holiday lights in an effort to hold onto the magic of the season. Christmas 2020 wasn't normal, but it was tender and full of heart.
To view NPR's Christmas Around the World collection from 2020, visit here.
