Christmas was different this year

Last Christmas, my whole family gathered at my parents' house and spent the whole day there. My younger sister and I had already decorated the living room and set up the Christmas tree. My older sister cooked a turkey with veggies and all of us made lots of desserts. I remember I made so many activities for the kids like decorating gingerbread man cookies and singing and dancing to Christmas songs. We played charades with the entire family including Mom and Dad. I dressed up as Santa, just like every year, and distributed the gifts. It was a normal Christmas Eve.

This year's Christmas was different. We wanted to keep the tradition, but there was no way we could have done what we did last year. Not all my family members were able to come because of COVID, so some just joined us virtually. Even the ones who came, they came with a mask covering their face where you can barely see any expressions. The kids weren't allowed to play but rather just to sit in one place with their face shield on. There were no feast and no dessert to minimize the chance of COVID exposure. Santa distributed the gifts, after sanitizing them first :). It was NOT a normal Christmas Eve but I am still thankful that all my family members were able to join and that all of them are in good health.