Residents share how they celebrate
Most people adorn an evergreen tree in lights and ornaments or bake cookies in preparation for Santa's visit, but not all Christmases are cut from the same cloth.
With factors ranging from finances to family situations, and, of course, COVID, families are adapting the way they spend their holiday.
“The last two have been quite a bit different, financially and with family,” Butler resident and single father Richard Jay said Friday.
Having spent last Christmas by himself, Jay was happy to spend this one with his two sons, Hunter, 9, and Logan, 8, of whom he gained custody out of foster care.
“This is a better Christmas than last year,” Jay said.
The family didn't have much lined up tradition-wise. They weren't even able to put up a tree. The unconventional sort of celebration is nothing new for Jay, who was born in Moses Lake, Wash., and had migrated through several states after Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980.
Butler is the longest he's lived in one spot and, because of his children, he said, its become the first true hometown he's ever had.
Even though he hasn't provided the cookie-cutter Christmas, Jay made sure his boys had presents to open, namely kid's smartwatches that will allow them to play in the neighborhood and him to know where they are.
“Our Christmas has been kind of like Kwanzaa,” Jay said. “It's been spread out. Whenever I get a pocketful of money, (I've hurried up to) go get them some gifts.”
Solo celebration
Meanwhile, with her children grown into their 20s and scattered about the United States, Rebecca Allison planned on celebrating on her own.“People are spending a little more time to themselves,” said Allison, also a Butler resident.Better late than never, she put up a small tree not even a week before Christmas. She still planned on cooking herself a dinner of fried eggplant and yams.She also spreads cheer by playing Christmas tunes on her recorder, a simple instrument she says is more difficult to master than it would appear.“I put songs on Facebook every year,” Allison said Friday. “Usually, I do the 'The 12 Days of Christmas' and put a Christmas carol on for every day. ... I only put on two or three songs so far, but I might put another song on for Christmas Eve and Christmas.”COVID fatigueVisiting family and finishing up shopping, Mitha Naik and Aaron Werner, both of Pittsburgh, first pointed out the difference in weather, between last year's blanketing snow and this one's mild, spring-like temperatures.Both are fully vaccinated and mindful of practices that help stem the spread of the COVID virus.“I definitely think there's a fatigue that has set in to everyone who's been experiencing this with us for the past two years,” Naik said of COVID's effect on the holiday season.She hopes that, even during a time of cheer, people will consider the safety of those around them as much as they do themselves.“We had a very small gathering last year and a very small gathering this year,” said Naik, who works in the medical field. “We haven't changed the way we're celebrating.”
