One of the things I'm most looking forward to this holiday season is the opportunity to resume many of the Christmas traditions my family had to forgo last year because of the COVID-related restrictions that were in place at the time.
In case you have forgotten, December 2020 was a pretty dark time in Alberta. The third wave of COVID-19 was in full force in our province, and a spike in hospitalizations, deaths, and case numbers at the time led the Alberta government to re-implement gathering restrictions and other health measures shortly before the holidays. It meant many people weren't allowed to see their families in person last Christmas.
While case counts and hospitalizations are still pretty high here, the success of Alberta's vaccination campaign over the last 12 months means this Christmas should look a little more normal than the first COVID Christmas.
While I still enjoyed last Christmas, I will admit it was frustrating to not see my parents in person. My family has some pretty fun long-standing Christmastime rituals, and it sucked knowing we would have to put those on the back-burner for 12 months. For instance, every Christmas Eve at my parents' house, we play a board game, have a hot tub, and then watch a Christmas movie together.
We also have our Christmas morning traditions, such as sipping Frangelico and eating scones while we open our stockings. We always cap off the morning of gift-unwrapping by eating an Amish breakfast casserole – a hearty dish that includes eggs, bacon, cheese, and hash browns. After a late breakfast, it's customary to spend the afternoon enjoying the gifts we've exchanged, or heading down to the neighbourhood outdoor rink, where a local shinny hockey game would usually be underway. The turkey dinner with extended family later that evening would cap off an awesome day.
None of that happened last Christmas, of course. The Christmas Eve games were played over Zoom, and my mom dropped off the turkey dinner at the door of my apartment.
Though missing out on the usual Christmas experience was disappointing in 2020, our first pandemic Christmas still made for some pretty cool memories. My wife and I enjoyed a morning skate on Dec. 25 at a nearly deserted Olympic Plaza in downtown Calgary, and we briefly connected with her parents in person when we dropped off gifts on their doorsteps later that day. Our dropped-off turkey dinner was still delicious, and it was fun to catch up with cousins, aunts, and uncles that night, even if it was over video chat.
With another Christmas just around the corner, my excitement for the holiday is beginning to build. I've always enjoyed this time of year, and I'm happy that Christmas in 2021 will look and feel a little more normal than it did 12 months ago.
