ALTERED CHRISTMAS PLANS
Many scale down gatherings, others push ahead
When the Rev. Richard Miller and his wife, Carolyn, f loated the idea of selling their cottage in the Poconos, one of their five grandchildren promptly objected.
“Where would we have Christmas if you sell the cottage,” the youngster wondered.
The Millers relented, figuring they ’d uphold the family Christmas tradition one more time before selling the cottage in Paradise Fa lls, near Mount Pocono in Monroe County.
That was before
COVID-19 crisis.
Now, with record numbers of people af f licted amid a resurgence of the coronavirus, the Millers’ final Christmas in the Poconos is in jeopardy.
Miller, a retired Lutheran pastor, harbors a glimmer of hope that a Christmas miracle of sorts would save the cherished family tradition.
At the same time, he’s resigned to the reality that, as they did on Easter, it’s a virtual certainty the family will gather for Christmas on Zoom.
“The thing I’m going to miss most is the hugs,” confided Richard,
82, who lives in Topton. “There’d be welcoming hugs, goodbye hugs, hugs all around.”
Missing out
the
Even before Pennsylvania and surrounding states implemented restrictions on travel and social gatherings for Thanksgiving, the coronavirus had already taken its toll on Christmas.
Popular venues were canceled, making it harder for kids to give Santa Claus their Christmas wish lists.
In places where Santa could be found, he often was seated behind a plexiglass shield or out of reach by distance from his young admirers.
The long-held tradition of children sitting on Santa’s lap fell victim to the virus.
So have ings.
For more than 20 years, Robert Adams has spent Christmas with his brother’s family in Maryland. It was one of the few times a year he’d get to see his mother, who also lives in Maryland.
“It was a family tradition,” said Adams, 54. “My brother’s house was a revolving door where as many as 70 people would be in and out over the holidays.”
This year, Adams said, the family gathering has been canceled, and he’ll be spending the holiday at home in Hamburg.
And he’s not happy about it
Adams understands that precautions are in order, especially for people with high-risk conditions like COPD.
At the same time, he thinks authorities might have gone a bit too far in implementing rigid COVID-19 mitigation restrictions.
family gather
Pursuing normalcy
In an era when the new normal is abnormal, some families are insistent on maintaining normalcy.
As she has for years,
Donna Kunkle began preparing for Christmas early.
Even before Thanksgiving, she had finished her Christmas shopping.
Christmas dinner is already in the freezer of her Tilden Township farmstead.
With her brother and sister, Kunk le and her husband, Dennis, will spend Christmas w ith her father, Clair Miller, in Centre Township.
The day after Thanksgiving, the Kunkles began decorating their house with Christmas lights.
In these troubled times, Kunkle said, putting up the Christmas lights is more impor t a nt than
ever.
“Seeing the lights on our house,” she said, “makes me feel happy.”
Richard Miller’s brother Lester, who’s 86, acknowledges that it’s unlikely that his 29 greatgrandchildren are going to show up for Christmas at his Greenwich Township home, as most of them had in the past.
That’s no reason, Miller says, not to celebrate Christmas as usual.
Miller, a retired businessman, has crafted tiny wooden Christmas trees in his workshop and decorated them with lights. With hundreds of lights strung on the Miller house, the tiny trees are
a beacon of hope.
“We’re going to keep going on with life as nor
mal as possible for as long as possible,” Miller insists.