By Kali Evans
Snow holds compacted ice particles, but for many people snow also holds memories.
Sophomore Olivia O’ĺeary travels northeast to Rhode Island for her Christmases.
One of her favorite memories is sledding with her mom, dad, and sister when she was a little girl.
¨When I was young we lived on a really big hill and we’d spend almost every day outside when it was snowing, just sledding all day.¨ O’leary said. ¨One morning my sister and I woke up early and asked our mom and dad to go sledding with us. Over and over we would sled down then run up the hill and try to keep our balance on the way up. It was so wholesome. We were all so happy.”
A favorite family tradition of O’leary’s in Rhode Island is when she and her family eat pasta for their Christmas dinner. She enjoys spending time with her family and embarrassing them for their traditions.
¨They just do things different from back home. They all speak in accents,” O’leary said. “Everybody in Rhode Island is mainly Catholic. Not to mention everyone loves seafood.¨
Olivia delights in staying home for a nice cold Christmas, relaxing with friends and family listening to Santa Baby.
One of her traditions she hopes to carry on with her future family is watching the animated Grinch movie while eating chocolate covered pretzels.
But while O’leary gets a calming winter break, this isn’t the case for everybody. Teacher Alison Jackson doesn’t get much of a break due to swimming and coaching. Mrs. Jackson coaches two swim practices a day, then coaches club.
Instead of being outside and doing winter activities with her kids, Mrs. Jackson spends her days inside at the pool.
¨This time of year is our championship season towards the end of it, so it always gets real exciting near the end of February,¨ Jackson said.
All practices are crucial.
¨Maybe, someday I’d change it, but for right now I like it being busy because that means I’m spending time with the kids, but at some point I’ll probably enjoy getting to stay bundled up inside.¨ Mrs. Jackson said.
Even though Mrs. Jackson doesn’t get a fully traditional Christmas, traditions are still huge in the Jackson family.
On Christmas eve the Jackson family spends the night at Mrs. Jackson’s grandma’s house. They eat a huge breakfast and a huge dinner, and spend the day together making memories.
When Tayler Saunders was around six years old her dad took her and her brother sledding in Anderson. She was so excited. When they arrived her excitement only grew. The hill was practically a tower.
Due to the hill´s size and Tayler’s age her dad wouldn’t let her go down alone. After a couple times of sledding down she noticed her brother went to use the bathroom and her dad checked his phone. She jumped on the opportunity and went sledding down the hill by herself.
¨I held on for dear life,” Saunders said. “My sled went down at a slant, and this other person was going straight. I couldn’t stop, they couldn’t stop. We ended up crashing into each other and we tumbled.¨
After the tumble Tayler wasn’t upset or crying. She was ecstatic!
She said she was so proud of herself for going down the hill all by herself. She and her brother started to laugh so hard they could hardly breathe.
Freshman Madalyn Milner cherishes the memories of going sledding with her grandpa.
When Madalyn was in sixth grade she and her grandpa went to McCulloch Park in Muncie to sled. Madalyn couldn’t remember much except the fact it was freezing and a core memory.
Sadly Madalyn’s grandpa has passed, but this memory will stay with her forever.
¨With him being gone it teaches me that time is of the essence,¨ Milner said. ¨With each interaction you have with somebody, you should make it count because you don’t know what they’re going through.¨
For some, winter is the worst part of the year, but for many winters are filled with heart warming traditions and memories.
