Graphic by Aidan McGuire
By Aidan McGuire, Multimedia Editor
We all have different ways we celebrate the holidays–our own traditions that make this time of year special. Here is a portrait of some of the holiday celebrations people hold dear, through a Moraine lens.
Owen Toppi
“This year I’m going to Florida to see my grandmother. And then I’m going to spend a lot of time with friends over break when I can. We get together with my cousins who are on my mom’s side of the family. [My favorite holiday food] is my aunt’s chocolate chip cookies. She just makes them different. She overcooks them a little bit, but it’s just right for me.”
Ahmed Almasri
“Once I finish finals, I plan on spending my holidays with my family and friends. I think my friends wanted to have like a friends’ Christmas. I’m Muslim so we don’t celebrate Christmas, but I do enjoy all the festivities. One of our holidays is actually on the same day this year. We usually go to the mosque in the morning and we just meet up with our family for breakfast. It’s kinda like our Christmas: We exchange gifts, so it’s pretty cool. I would love some cologne, so I think my mom might get me some new cologne.”
Daniel Delgado
“We usually like to spend time together as a family. We’re Catholic and we usually like to listen to the Gospel, sit around the tree, talk about what we’re thankful for, stuff like that. Stuffed chicken is amazing. We also used to have a tradition where we would stay up until 12 am to open presents. Because it would be a nice time to relax, watch some shows, and stay together as a family. [My favorite Christmas movie] would have to be either ‘Polar Express’ or ‘Frosty the Snowman.'”
Sarah Tesher
“I’m definitely looking forward to having my older siblings come home. I’m the youngest of five, and I think the last time all six people in my family were home was last Christmas. It’s very rare when we are all together, so when we are we make sure to make the most of it. Our Christmas is a little bit different than most people’s because we don’t go anywhere. We stay home in our Christmas pajamas all day. We just like to wake up when we wake up; we open presents when everyone is ready. It’s a very relaxed Christmas, which I think a lot of families don’t get just because they’re going to their aunt’s house or their grandma’s house. We like just having our immediate family time. We always make a country breakfast with eggs and my mom pulls out the Irish bangers. Our family tradition that we do every year is we make what’s called nut cups and so we have this recipe that I think my grandma made and we’ve been doing it ever since.”
