This 2020 has been different in every way. We have gone through long months of confinement, empty and dark streets on the brightest days of the year, parks without children and cinemas without spectators, small shops that lower their barriers without the hope of raising them again and widespread uncertainty creeping through every part of society.
This year’s Christmas holidays will look a lot like the rest of this year, but it’s not the first time it’s happened. 15% of the Spanish population knows this and has lived it. Our elders born before 1950, those who lived through the war of independence or the Spanish civil war of the 1930s, have suffered the effects of a different Christmas before. Our elders have been able to maintain the custom of Christmas for years and have protected and kept it for fear of losing it again as in the time of war.
The parties this year are different because they don’t have to be bad. We can be in solidarity with our elders, and protect them as they have protected us. Taking care of them means not spreading the virus, which means we will all need to adjust our behaviour. Hugging a grandparent can mean spreading the virus to them, because the virus doesn’t move alone, we move it ourselves. Going from one area with a high rate of community transmission to another where there may be little may lead to an outbreak in that area.
Our generation, that generation that was born after the wars, that 85% of the population has the duty and obligation to learn to be in solidarity with those closest to us before thinking of being in solidarity with those furthest away. Being alone this Christmas doesn’t symbolize sadness, it means we love our family, friends and colleagues; it means we’re supportive. Even if it hurts, we have to keep holding back the virus until the vaccine all arrives and we get out of this pandemic. Contact must be avoided to tackle contagion. Tonight, is Christmas Eve and tomorrow will be Christmas. If we don’t see each other these days, if we don’t hug, if we can’t shake hands or say hello with a kiss: it is simply because we love each other. Merry Christmas to all.
