They dreamed of it, of this succulent artisanal foie gras accompanied by Sauternes, the sparkling eyes of their niece unwrapping her raptosaurus dinosaur, the contest between cousins … But instead, they will be entitled to a Picard premium dish, unwrapped gifts in 5 minutes and Twelve strokes of noon on TF1… All because of the coronavirus!
Over the last seven days, the average has climbed to 52,885 daily cases on average, announces Public Health France. With the approach of Christmas, many are therefore tested before leaving to join their family, especially not wanting to transmit the virus to their loved ones as the ultimate gift. And when the results come, sometimes it’s a cold shower, because they are positive and will have to isolate themselves. Goodbye to the magic of Christmas in a gold lamé dress. Make way for pajama-charentaise.
“I’ve been preparing Christmas for more than 2 months”
A prospect for which many readers are preparing who have responded to our call for witnesses. And which arouses a real bitterness in them, as for Céline: “We will spend Christmas together when we had planned to join our families. I am sad, I love this period so much. In addition, my partner is 30 years old on December 26th. We don’t even dare to order a good little Christmas dish for fear of not even having the taste to enjoy it ”. Same disappointment with Jennifer: “I’m going to spend Christmas alone in my apartment. Clearly, I think the program will be: a meal in 10 minutes and in bed at 9 pm… ”. Véronique also saw it quite badly: “I did not buy a present and I cannot buy any more, in addition I have to stay in my room until December 27! “.
The regret of not being able to feast is sometimes mixed with the incomprehension of having been contaminated, despite the vaccination and the respect of barrier gestures. Monica is in this state of mind: “I started having symptoms on Thursday, but having been vaccinated on Wednesday, I thought it was related. For safety reasons, I was tested on Friday and what a cold shower! Positive! So I called my mother to cancel her plane ticket, because she came from Portugal to spend the holidays with us. The children were in tears. Celine also expresses her astonishment: “Vaccinated, we did not expect to catch it. It’s been more than 2 months that I prepared Christmas, with all the interior and exterior decoration, the purchases for my 2 year old daughter… ”
“I just want this period to end”
The feeling of missing out on beautiful moments is even more keen because of the impression of having already sacrificed a lot in his social life since the start of the health crisis. “It’s really depressing that this virus has ruined everything for two years”, plague Céline. “We are deprived on all sides and again, parties that fall apart …”, laments Gwen. Sarah, 20 years old and a positive person, is even darker: “Sad and depressed, I just want this period to end. From the start, I’ve only seen what we miss and never catch up with: my dad’s 60, my sister’s 30, my 20, and now a Christmas. I never thought my favorite time of year would turn out to be my worst nightmare. “
Some, like Muriel, are aware of the passage of time and the opportunities to come together that may not be repeated often: “My parents’ health has been declining for a few years and it is not known how many Christmases we will all have the chance to spend. reunited. We were very happy to share this family moment. We were already arguing over the menu! “
Some keep smiling despite everything …
But for others, there is no question of letting the Covid-19 ruin their morale. They decided to take the situation with philosophy, like Cindy: “You just have to say to yourself that it is to protect our loved ones! At least I still have the smell and the taste! “Same wisdom with Julien:” Of course, I had to do Christmas Eve with my family in the Dordogne. But too bad, I put it into perspective by telling myself that I have a “big flu”, that fortunately, I am vaccinated to avoid all the dangerous symptoms, and that people die from this virus. Christmases, there will be others. “
Pascale, who has just canceled a spa break, also tries to put things into perspective: “For me, who loves traveling, it’s hard. But that’s life, I’ll make it up as soon as I can. The most important thing is health, and I pray that my symptoms do not get worse. “
“We postpone the meal to the 27”
Christmas is traditionally a feast for the palate, covid or not, Florence will not skimp on feasts: “Like this year, Christmas will be face to face, we decided to have fun. For the moment, I have not lost my smell and taste, I hope that on the 24th and 25th it will always be the case to be able to enjoy the meal. We decided to make ourselves a Savoyard fondue! Unusual for a Christmas, but we both love it so much. And on the 25th, toast of foie gras, smoked salmon and whatnot ”. Thomas has also planned everything to feast: “We are going to use our networks to still have a good meal for the 24th. A friend drops us off the meat on the 23rd in front of the garage, an uncle will drop us off the oysters, the beautiful- sister the starters and mother-in-law the rest. Fortunately, the wine cellar is full, to be consumed in moderation, of course! “
And for those who want to look at the glass half full, a screwed up New Year’s Eve doesn’t mean the end of the holidays… But their postponement. “We postpone the meal to the 27th, if my husband does not become positive by then!” », Says Céline. “We are going to take the time to rest and find each other. We will have to wait until December 31 to offer our gifts to the children ”, declares Romain for his part. “Once all are healed, we will have even more pleasure to meet again”, also hopes Angélique.