With winter break quickly approaching and family reunions are near in sight; holiday traditions are the steady star, leading us back home.
Come follow the star on Santa’s sleigh the night before Christmas through The Setonian’s E-Board family traditions.
Through the misty clouds of the dark night, a plane is traveling to El Salvador, aboard a family is on their way to surf waves on Christmas.
Instead of opening gifts, Keira Bala, a junior visual sound and media major (videographer), and her family have taken family vacations since 2018.
From Utah, Mexico, Italy, France, and Japan, Bala said her trip tradition is more memorable than physical gifts.
Bala said their time abroad together makes her feel closer to her family since she only sees them during breaks. For her, the best gift is their time spent with each other.
As the star twinkles and the sleigh passes by planes, a house shines under the moonlight. Reindeer hoofs clack on the rooftop, and the smell of nutmeg and cinnamon floats up through the chimney from the kitchen.
A stacked plate of cookies is sitting on the counter from senior marketing and public relations major (assistant social media editor) Morgan Dence’s family “Cookie Day.”
Dence’s mom, sister, and she spent all day a few weeks before Christmas baking cookies at her Aunt’s house. While her mom’s side of the family tends to bake the same cookies, Dence’s mom switches it up, making chocolate-covered Oreos.
Senior journalism major (managing editor) Sofia Kasbo also helps her mom bake 4-6 different kinds of cookies while they listen to Christmas music.
In the oven, fish is basking in the heat; the last dish in Kasbo’s family's Italian Feast of the Seven Fishes.
By morning, Kasbo and her mom will continue cooking with a warm, sweet French toast casserole.
“Five Golden Rings” rings through the kitchen chaos from the living room.
Junior journalism major (head news editor) Megan Pitt’s Uncle Dan and Uncle Mike, deep below “The 12 Days of Christmas,” create a fit of laughter for her family running around in their matching pajamas.
Pitt and the rest of her family join in the off-key rendition of the song while exchanging gifts. She said their night of mayhem is perfect, in its beautifully orchestrated disaster of tradition.
Now Pitt’s siblings and cousins are spread across the country, and when they are in the same room on Dec. 24, it feels like no time has passed at all.
“And a partridge in a pear tree.” With the conclusion of their caroling, “The Family Stone” movie is heard loud and clear on the TV.
Senior public relations and journalism major (copy editor) Jacqueline Litowinsky is watching the movie with her family, holding a plate of her mom’s annual holiday cookies.
Soon, Litowinsky’s entire family will be over, but by morning, it will just be her and her mom. She said they spend special time together, watching another movie, “While You Were Sleeping,” and cooking their baked mac and cheese comfort meal.
Warm, vibrant Christmas lights shine from the messy tree in the corner. A glittery mermaid, a ballerina, an ice queen, and a handmade gingerbread man hang on its branches.
Sophomore journalism major (assistant opinion editor) Ashley Smith and her brother collect an ornament for the tree every year.
When they were younger, they would handmake ornaments; as they grew up, they began to pick them out while Christmas shopping.
Smith said each ornament holds the representation of who they were when it was added to the tree, and she loves reminiscing about her childhood through the tradition she shares with her brother.
On the side table, The Story of Christmas, a Bible advent calendar, rests. Junior journalism major (head opinion editor) Calla Patino’s family is gathered around listening to her mom read the last book about Jesus’ birth.
During the entire month, Patino’s parents, brother, and she read one book a day in the evening. Patino said no matter how busy her family was, every December, her family would take a moment to celebrate the meaning behind the holiday.
While she is far from her family, who reside in Texas, Patino said looking back, the little Advent calendar books have become her favorite build-up to Christmas.
With the meals prepared, ornaments hung, Advent calendar read, and movies watched, it’s time to come together to share a meal in the dining room.
While senior communication major (editor-in-chief) Dominique Mercadante sets down her family’s homemade eggplant parmesan and takes a seat at the dining table with her twin sister and her sister’s boyfriend, the lights turn off.
Mercadante’s parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins walk in the room singing “Happy Birthday” and “Merry Christmas.” They carry a cake with all three of their names, Mercadante, her sister, and her sister’s boyfriend, in icing.
Mercadante said her family spends time simply enjoying each other’s company.
The steady star starts to wane for the sun, as extended families leave and Christmas Day slowly approaches.
But before the reindeer head back to the icy weather of the North Pole, The Setonian Editorial Board comes together for one more tradition: Secret Santa.
As the final holiday tradition closes out, family laughter and remembrance hang in the air, and the feeling of home never ceases.
Calla Patino is the head editor of The Setonian’s Opinion section. She can be reached at calla.patino@student.shu.edu.
