T’giving virtually here
N.Y.ers pput rites on hold, plan vid gatherings
For the past 10 years, Grace Welch would stuff a 17-pound turkey into a large red suitcase and board an early-morning Greyhound bus in upstate Binghamton the day before Thanksgiving — the first leg of a five-hour journey to spend the holiday with her adult kids in Brooklyn.
Yet this year, Welch told her two children she wouldn’t make the trek down to the city due to the rise in coronavirus cases — postponing a beloved annual tradition and a chance to see her family after months of being apart.
“I want to stay home this year so that we have [a holiday] next year,” said Welch, whose sister’s recent battle with COVID-19 and eight-week stint in the hospital only reinforced her stance on a socially-distanced Thanksgiving.
“It’s sad because I’m alone — but I won’t tell [my kids] that,” she said, noting that she’ll miss schlepping her roughly 75-pound haul of twice-baked potatoes, homemade pumpkin bread, cans of olives, diced zucchini and a host of other fixings to her son’s place in Kensington. “I have other family [members] that want me to go to their house, but I won’t. I believe I should be home ... that we should all be home.”
More New Yorkers might be canceling their in-person Thanksgiving plans following a statewide-surge in the virus and a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory Thursday urging Americans to avoid holiday travel.
New York State reported 5,310 positive coronavirus cases Thursday — with a 2.72% positivity rate on tests — leading to a citywide public school shutdown and Mayor de Blasio’s concerns over keeping restaurants and gyms open.
Over 1 million COVID-19 cases were reported nationwide in the past week, CDC officials said Thursday, noting the safest way to spend Thanksgiving is at home.
Nearly three-quarters of Amer- icans plan on celebrating the e holidays virtually with 93% citing g a swell in coronavirus cases as a reason for staying in, according to o a new study from the insurance e company, Asurion Home+. Zoom m also announced it will lift its s 40-minute cap on video meetings s so families could gather virtually y for longer.
Welch’s daughter, Jenn Welch, , said she’ll miss her mom’s annual l feast — but she’s glad that they will l celebrate from a distance.
“I’m so proud of her for see- ing that this is a year where it’s s not safe for us to do this, and for r prioritizing her health,” said Jenn n Welch, 40, of the East Village. . “This is a woman who would do o all of the food shopping at her r grocery store, cook half of it at home ... and then — no joke — she would come to the city with an entire meal in her suitcase, like the size of one you would take on an international vacation.
“So we’re going to be on Zoom, with my brother, his wife and their baby, and it’s going to be great,” she said. “If my mom can see that this is not a good year [to gather], anybody should be able to see that.”
Grace Welch — who also brings her red suitcase filled with carefully wrapped Christmas presents to Brooklyn each December — said she’s already put the kibosh on those plans, too, hoping that remaining indoors will keep her family and others safe this season.
“I want [people to] take a minute and realize it’s not just them they have to think about. It’s the rest of the country,” she said. “It’s a real virus, and [getting together] isn’t worth it.”