How these Tamworth families are changing their Christmas in 2020

The holiday season, especially Christmas, is a time to congregate with loved ones.

As with everything else, COVID-19 has created challenges which has seen the Duric and Martins families cancel their plans to go back home. However they've readapted and remembered their culture in a holiday season they'll never forget.

Breaking tradition somewhat by sharing the day with friends instead of a mass of family members, the Martins family are looking forward to experiencing a brand new way of celebrating Christmas.

Karen and Antonio had planned to go back to Brazil to be with family for the first time since moving to Tamworth just over three years ago.

Normally they'd be feasting and frolicking with their kin on December 24, rather than December 25.

However their hopes were dashed when in March they realised it was unlikely they could return home for the festivities.

"That was the plan to go, but of course we couldn't because of the pandemic restrictions," Mrs Martins explained.

"It is disappointing and sad because we wish we can go, but we realise this is not just about us so we have to be patient for next year."

They are now excited to instead join with a local Mexican family, who also hold festivities on the 24^th.

"We get to try their traditional foods, they will try ours, and it will be so nice to do that and share the time together," Mrs Martins enthused.

The Leader interviewed the Martins family back in 2017 just before their first ever Christmas here in Australia.

Since then, they say apart from the date, obviously, the biggest difference is that they have had the chance to experience how other cultures celebrate Christmas.

"The biggest advantage is also the biggest difference for me," Mrs Martins explained.

"It's the fact that we can interact with people from other countries. I wouldn't usually spend Christmas with anyone else from a country other that in Brazil, however especially this year we are spend it with a Mexican family.

"They do the same day as us on the 24th as the big celebration, interesting to see what they will prepare."

But deep down, at the heart of Christmas, it's really the same. It's about making people feel special and showing the ones you love how much they mean to you, she said. "Of course it can be [commercial] to some people, but for a lot of others it's a matter taking the chance to give them a nice gift and express love."

Being away from family has given them a chance to reflect on the Christmases past which they hold dear.

"When I was a child, we would have all the family come together, over 30 people, and it was all about having a good chat, having those good moments with family, and have a good meal as well!" Mr Martins laughed.

But for Mrs Martins, it was the last Christmas spent in Brazil with her family which will always be incredibly special.

"The memory I have, we had a secret Santa with chocolate," she explained.

"Everybody got a special chocolate bar that they wanted. It was very nice and really special. It was our last Christmas in Brazil before coming, and we didn't know we were coming. It worked very well with the family, it was a very simple and an inexpensive way of giving a gift to everyone."

The Duric family are still dreaming of a white Christmas. They too, would have gone home to Bosnia this year.

"We Serbs normally hate snow, but at this time of year, we miss it. The snowmen, the sledding. Swimming to good too but just not the same," Mr Duric laughed.

Like the Martins, they have now had a few Christmases here in Tamworth. They say with two young children, the act of gift-giving is a little different however they are remaining true to their homeland traditions.

They say sons Marko and Vedran are not too worried about getting their presents on a different day to their friends - because they get theirs first.

While they celebrate Christmas Day on January 7, they open their presents on the feast day of Saint Nicholas on December 19.

"Saint Nicholas brings presents for the kids, and our kids get their presents then too," Mr Duric said.

"We explain to them why, and the oldest he understands, and the youngest he is still getting there but because they get presents earlier it's okay."

The only gift giving generally done on January 7 is when the first born child visits grandma's house for the first time.

"That is one of my most special Christmas days," Mrs Duric recalls.

"When Marko, my oldest, had his first Christmas back in Bosnia at my mum's house, he got his special presents."

Handmade gloves, hats and jumpers, love is in the weaving of those presents.

"We have so many happy memories, mainly with family," Mr Duric said.

"We are missing that touch. We have friends, but we are missing close family, we would spend it with the whole family."

Speaking of traditions, the Duric family have their own special adaptation they continue over here, brought on from Mrs Duric's mother.

"In Bosnia, there is a special bread made with one coin inside," she explained.

"The legend has it that whoever finds the coin will be very wealthy all year - so the kids would always hope they are the ones to get the coin. So my mother used to put as many coins in the bread as there were children so they all got one. And I do the same now, put the two coins in."

For others like Eddie Whitham, their holiday celebrations have already come to pass. A small gathering of local Jewish people came together to light the sixth candle for the festival of Hanukkah.

Tamworth has a very small Jewish community, but the ties to their religious customs are very strong, Mr Whitham explained.

The Regional Rabbi, Menachem Aron, travelled from Melbourne to visit towns including Dubbo, Tamworth, Coffs Harbour and several places in between, to keep in touch with the local community and remnants of Jewish families who have been isolated in the rural Australian bush.

"My mother was Jewish from Poland and met my father, who was a Christian Australian Soldier in Jerusalem in the second world war," Mr Whitham told the Leader.

"The importance to me is the connection with our past, our culture and religion. The importance here in Tamworth is that the Jewish community has been significant in this city, even though small in numbers."