Thanksgiving was out of the ordinary for many people due to COVID-19. Many families were faced with decisions on how to celebrate the holiday. These decisions included various precautions people would take during Thanksgiving or whether to host Thanksgiving at all.

“We undoubtedly changed nothing and kept to the same old traditions as every year,” YHS Freshman Jacey Henson said. Some families were able to keep everything the same from previous years and did not make any changes to their 2020 Thanksgiving.

Masks were worn at some Thanksgivings, and some families socially distanced. Some families only celebrated with their close, immediate family while others celebrated with a large extended family.

COVID-19 caused many changes in daily lifestyles which included wearing masks and social distancing. Some families didn’t have Thanksgiving at all this year, while others limited the number of people at their thanksgiving, cutting it down from extended family to close relatives instead.

“Due to corona we could only see one side of the family, which was my mom’s side,” freshman Audrey Thompson said. “During that time, on Thanksgiving with my family, we couldn’t all eat together at the table, we were separated all throughout the rooms.” This was another precaution that some families took on Thanksgiving. Eating in separate rooms limited physical contact between people.

“I had to cancel everything that week so that if I had been exposed from Thanksgiving, I won’t give it to any of my friends or the other way around,” Freshman Emma Rouner said. Other families had to limit the amount of time they spent with other people, to prevent the spread of the virus to their family members or people they would usually be with on a daily basis.

Despite all the changes that many families had to endure, people were still determined to enjoy the holidays with their family and friends as best they could whilst still trying to keep each other safe. Masks became a regular part of daily life as they helped prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“We didn’t see everyone that we usually would for Thanksgiving. We had to wear masks and most people were concerned about the older people,¨ Nora England said.