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| Power Style Wellness Connections |
Not a Perfect Celebration
By Melissa Arnold
It is the time of year when families and friends come together. But for some local
women whose families are far away, holiday gatherings can be bittersweet.
Newlywed Tatiana Kuzmina will be spending her first holiday away from her family
and friends. Born in Perm, Russia, Tatiana moved to Louisville four months ago
with her husband Aleksey Ashihmin, so they could both pursue an education at
the University of Louisville. Tatiana is earning her master’s in business
administration and Aleksey is a computer science student.
She says that in Russia, it is not Christmas that is the most important holiday, but
New Year’s. “Some people put up a New Year’s tree one month before and some
one hour before the New Year, but everyone does this thing because it is very
famous for New Year’s and it is very great to have New Year’s tree at New Year’s
time,” Tatiana says. “This is the greatest of all Russian holidays because
everyone has a smile on their faces because we get a break from our everyday
routine and jobs. So one month before the New Year we have very good feelings
about family.”
For Tatiana the most important thing about the holidays is family and spirit, so
she is going to try and decorate her home in the same fashion as if she was in
Russia as well as cook traditional dishes. Of course, she says it will not be the
same since her parents, sister, grandparents, uncles and aunts are all in Russia.
“I will miss my family during this holiday because it is a family’s holiday” she says.
“On New Year’s we just sit with our families in the house and cook a lot of different
delicious things and wait for a speech by the Russian president at midnight.
When he finishes his speech we wait for the striking of the clock and we let off
fireworks and the children go under the New Year’s trees and get presents.”
Everyone in the town then goes outside to celebrate at the town’s New Year’s tree
where they throw snow balls and sing songs. Tatiana recalls her favorite holiday
tradition, one she plans to still do this year.
“You write a wish down on a piece of paper and put it in your champagne glass
and then you drink the champagne during the striking of the clock,” she says. “I
hope and believe that my wish will become real in the next year.”
But Tatiana says that while she will do her best to celebrate the New Year’s
holiday as if she was in Russia that she probably will still not celebrate Christmas
because for her Christmas is on January 13 and not December 25. “Christmas is
not common in Russia because everyone has to work so there is no free day to
celebrate this holiday,” she says.
Indian native Reeya Mathew left her home town of Kerala to come to Louisville
more than four years ago. Like Tatiana she came here to attend UofL and to earn
her business degree. Reeya says she has met many wonderful people but still
finds it difficult to be so far from her family, especially her parents and sister.
“I only see my family once every two years,” Reeya says “It is during the holidays
when I miss my family the most. Back home, on Christmas Eve a group of young
men from church with one of them dressed up as Santa Claus will go from house
to house singing carols. We and other families would often have holiday snacks
prepared for them. Also, fireworks are often lit on Christmas Eve and on
Christmas.”
Reeya says the one thing she has noticed about Christmas in the United States is
that it is a lot more commercialized than it is in India. “People do not do presents
as much as they do here,” she says. “We focus more on the spiritual side and
being thankful for everything you have been blessed with, but the gifts we tend to
give are hand made or baked goods.”
At 2 a.m. on Christmas Day, Reeya and her family would attend a prayer service
at their church and would then stay for the Christmas mass which began at 5 a.m.
“After church, once we are home, we eat our traditional Christmas breakfast
prepared by mom, Appam (like a pancake but made out of fermented rice) and
chicken or lamb stew, which is followed by the cutting of the Christmas cake that
is specially created by my mom,” she says. “Then my mom will cook the rest of the
day to prepare lunch and dinner for our family and friends that will come over,
while my sister and I decorate the house and play Christmas songs.”
While Reeya calls her family on Christmas it is still not the same as being
together, but she tries to make the most of it by making the same Christmas meal,
singing carols, and going to church. “I have met some great people over here,
and we will all celebrate together and every now and then I will spend Christmas
at someone else’s house with their family,” she recalls. “I like the holiday season.
It’s just a great time. There is a wonderful feeling in the air and it is nice to hang
out with my closest friends and to see them open the gifts I got them. It is a really
good feeling and I like it a lot.”
However, for 53-year-old Marilyn Spells, her family is all in the United States but is
spread out across the country. Even Marilyn and her husband, Nathaniel Spells,
who have been married since 2002, live about eight hours apart. They are
residents of Columbia, South Carolina where her husband owns his own
company, but about a year and a half ago Marilyn received a promotion with the
post office with whom she has been employed with for 30 years and it, in turn,
brought her to Louisville. She is the senior plant manager of Processing and
Distribution for the Kentuckiana Cluster.
“I try to fly home every two weeks and he comes here on some weekends and
then there are sometimes when three weeks go by and we don’t get to see each
other,” Marilyn says. But she always makes it home for the holidays. She takes a
week vacation from Christmas to New Year’s so she can spend some quality time
with her family. However, in order to prepare for the holidays, she decorates her
South Carolina home for Christmas when she is in town for Thanksgiving, which
includes putting up two 8-foot Christmas trees.
“I purchase all of my gifts here in Louisville, then I wrap them and put them in
boxes and mail them priority mail to my husband and then when he gets them all
he has to do is put them under the tree,” she says. “You really have to be
versatile and have high energy to live in two places, especially with all the
traveling you have to do.”
Marilyn enjoys reminiscing during the holidays about old memories as well as
creating new ones. “One of my favorite memories is growing up with my parents
and siblings and celebrating Christmas together,” she says. “It was always a time
for family to come together and that has a lasting impression on me. The second
thing is the birth of Christ is very important to me and I am very thankful for
getting to be with my family during the holidays and getting to bring joy to other
people as well.”
By Melissa Arnold
It is the time of year when families and friends come together. But for some local
women whose families are far away, holiday gatherings can be bittersweet.
Newlywed Tatiana Kuzmina will be spending her first holiday away from her family
and friends. Born in Perm, Russia, Tatiana moved to Louisville four months ago
with her husband Aleksey Ashihmin, so they could both pursue an education at
the University of Louisville. Tatiana is earning her master’s in business
administration and Aleksey is a computer science student.
She says that in Russia, it is not Christmas that is the most important holiday, but
New Year’s. “Some people put up a New Year’s tree one month before and some
one hour before the New Year, but everyone does this thing because it is very
famous for New Year’s and it is very great to have New Year’s tree at New Year’s
time,” Tatiana says. “This is the greatest of all Russian holidays because
everyone has a smile on their faces because we get a break from our everyday
routine and jobs. So one month before the New Year we have very good feelings
about family.”
For Tatiana the most important thing about the holidays is family and spirit, so
she is going to try and decorate her home in the same fashion as if she was in
Russia as well as cook traditional dishes. Of course, she says it will not be the
same since her parents, sister, grandparents, uncles and aunts are all in Russia.
“I will miss my family during this holiday because it is a family’s holiday” she says.
“On New Year’s we just sit with our families in the house and cook a lot of different
delicious things and wait for a speech by the Russian president at midnight.
When he finishes his speech we wait for the striking of the clock and we let off
fireworks and the children go under the New Year’s trees and get presents.”
Everyone in the town then goes outside to celebrate at the town’s New Year’s tree
where they throw snow balls and sing songs. Tatiana recalls her favorite holiday
tradition, one she plans to still do this year.
“You write a wish down on a piece of paper and put it in your champagne glass
and then you drink the champagne during the striking of the clock,” she says. “I
hope and believe that my wish will become real in the next year.”
But Tatiana says that while she will do her best to celebrate the New Year’s
holiday as if she was in Russia that she probably will still not celebrate Christmas
because for her Christmas is on January 13 and not December 25. “Christmas is
not common in Russia because everyone has to work so there is no free day to
celebrate this holiday,” she says.
Indian native Reeya Mathew left her home town of Kerala to come to Louisville
more than four years ago. Like Tatiana she came here to attend UofL and to earn
her business degree. Reeya says she has met many wonderful people but still
finds it difficult to be so far from her family, especially her parents and sister.
“I only see my family once every two years,” Reeya says “It is during the holidays
when I miss my family the most. Back home, on Christmas Eve a group of young
men from church with one of them dressed up as Santa Claus will go from house
to house singing carols. We and other families would often have holiday snacks
prepared for them. Also, fireworks are often lit on Christmas Eve and on
Christmas.”
Reeya says the one thing she has noticed about Christmas in the United States is
that it is a lot more commercialized than it is in India. “People do not do presents
as much as they do here,” she says. “We focus more on the spiritual side and
being thankful for everything you have been blessed with, but the gifts we tend to
give are hand made or baked goods.”
At 2 a.m. on Christmas Day, Reeya and her family would attend a prayer service
at their church and would then stay for the Christmas mass which began at 5 a.m.
“After church, once we are home, we eat our traditional Christmas breakfast
prepared by mom, Appam (like a pancake but made out of fermented rice) and
chicken or lamb stew, which is followed by the cutting of the Christmas cake that
is specially created by my mom,” she says. “Then my mom will cook the rest of the
day to prepare lunch and dinner for our family and friends that will come over,
while my sister and I decorate the house and play Christmas songs.”
While Reeya calls her family on Christmas it is still not the same as being
together, but she tries to make the most of it by making the same Christmas meal,
singing carols, and going to church. “I have met some great people over here,
and we will all celebrate together and every now and then I will spend Christmas
at someone else’s house with their family,” she recalls. “I like the holiday season.
It’s just a great time. There is a wonderful feeling in the air and it is nice to hang
out with my closest friends and to see them open the gifts I got them. It is a really
good feeling and I like it a lot.”
However, for 53-year-old Marilyn Spells, her family is all in the United States but is
spread out across the country. Even Marilyn and her husband, Nathaniel Spells,
who have been married since 2002, live about eight hours apart. They are
residents of Columbia, South Carolina where her husband owns his own
company, but about a year and a half ago Marilyn received a promotion with the
post office with whom she has been employed with for 30 years and it, in turn,
brought her to Louisville. She is the senior plant manager of Processing and
Distribution for the Kentuckiana Cluster.
“I try to fly home every two weeks and he comes here on some weekends and
then there are sometimes when three weeks go by and we don’t get to see each
other,” Marilyn says. But she always makes it home for the holidays. She takes a
week vacation from Christmas to New Year’s so she can spend some quality time
with her family. However, in order to prepare for the holidays, she decorates her
South Carolina home for Christmas when she is in town for Thanksgiving, which
includes putting up two 8-foot Christmas trees.
“I purchase all of my gifts here in Louisville, then I wrap them and put them in
boxes and mail them priority mail to my husband and then when he gets them all
he has to do is put them under the tree,” she says. “You really have to be
versatile and have high energy to live in two places, especially with all the
traveling you have to do.”
Marilyn enjoys reminiscing during the holidays about old memories as well as
creating new ones. “One of my favorite memories is growing up with my parents
and siblings and celebrating Christmas together,” she says. “It was always a time
for family to come together and that has a lasting impression on me. The second
thing is the birth of Christ is very important to me and I am very thankful for
getting to be with my family during the holidays and getting to bring joy to other
people as well.”