The time of year following Thanksgiving is what many consider to officially be the holiday season. People across the world for centuries have celebrated the end of the year in their own ways, creating and passing on their traditions from generation to generation.
Windsor, like the rest of the country, is no different. Over 30,000 people celebrate their own traditions over the course of the season; from baking to advent calendars, each has their unique twist on the season.
English teacher Kjersten Johnson (staff) is one of the many people who has her own traditions from when she was a child. When she was growing up, Johnson would unwrap and read a different Christmas story every night from Dec. 1 through Christmas Eve, and she continues the tradition now as an adult.
Johnson said, “My mom would wrap up 24 Christmas books each year… and put them under the tree and each night my siblings and I would take turns choosing one and unwrapping it and that was kind of our advent calendar each year.”
Though that may be one of Johnson’s favorite traditions to this day, it’s not the only one she’s fond of: “Ever since I was really little, I’ve slept by the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve, and that’s still something I do as an adult.”
Johnson is one of the many people who has continued her family traditions into her adult life, but students throughout Windsor are adopting and furthering their own family traditions as well. Reese Maybon (11) is one of those students who furthers her family’s traditions by decorating her house extravagantly each year: “I force my mom to decorate the house with a lot of decorations, and I force my dad to decorate the outside of the house with even more decorations.”
Maybon doesn’t just decorate her house for the holidays, but she also has another tradition: “My favorite holiday tradition is I always open one Christmas gift early,” Maybon said. Like many others, Maybon has her very own Christmas traditions with their own twist on them, but she also embraces spending time with her family over the course of the holiday season.
The holiday season isn’t just about Christmas though. Audrey Bower (11) is another student who celebrates the holiday season, but in a different way. Bower is a half-Jewish student who celebrates Hanukkah and enjoys her own traditions over the course of the holiday season.
Bower said, “My favorite tradition of the holiday season is probably playing dreidel; it’s a lot of fun.”
While Bower celebrates the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, which “is an eight-day celebration that celebrates the burning of the Sacred Cave,” she also celebrates Christmas as well. Bower said, “At my dad’s house, I celebrate Christmas, and at my mom’s house I celebrate Hanukkah.”
The holiday season is one that represents a multitude of diverse traditions and the making of memories. People around the world celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah and many other holidays based on their religion or simply on the ending of a season. In the eyes of many, the holiday season is a time of joy perfect for making memories; Johnson, Maybon and Bower are all examples of this.
