This month at Shondaland, we’re celebrating once again what the holidays mean to all with our Food, Family, and Traditions series. These snapshots and vignettes from many of our beloved Shondaland stars, pals, and fans festively affirm the importance of communities both big and small coming together to celebrate.
During the holidays, someone out there has to keep the world running. While most people use the season to take a breath and reset, many brave souls are willing to be on duty when everyone else is celebrating. These caring and generous individuals sacrifice their holidays for something or someone outside themselves.
Because taking off work is often a luxury in vital vocations, dedicated employees recognize it’s simply not their reality. “Working in health care is a whole different world when it comes to holidays, as are other jobs that require 24-7 care and services,” says Janelle Courtney, a cognitive rehab therapist from Pennsylvania. She gladly volunteers to work on holidays to personally add a sprinkle of joy to her clients’ days and to also allow her coworkers with younger children to take off so they can spend the day together. “I always offer to work if that helps others have the chance to be off and at home to celebrate with their families.”
When it comes to many occupations, including looking after furry friends, consistent care and attention is an integral duty no matter the day of the year. “I work a very nontraditional schedule,” says Virginia-based zookeeper Callie Spruill. “We care for our animals 365 days a year, which includes weekends and holidays, in any and all weather conditions.” Sometimes, essential workers like Spruill are blessed to be home for holidays. Other times, they’re spent in service to others.
For families with loved ones who work on holidays, they often celebrate when possible. “I’m thankful to have a family who works with my schedule the best they can,” Spruill says. “We’ll often celebrate holidays on a different day or wait until I’m off work to have our holiday meals. I have found the holidays are just as meaningful even if you have to celebrate on the wrong day.”
Despite their unwavering career commitment, individuals like Courtney and Spruill don’t let work stop them from having a good time with the people around them. In celebration of their contribution to our world, here’s a look at how first responders and others in essential fields craft their own holiday traditions:
Shane Stone, family medical doctor
“On holidays, they have us on tiered working hours. Some people work from early hours until noon. Some work during the day. Others are on call or work the night shift. One year, my friends who were on the early shift got off and went to my apartment to prepare Thanksgiving dinner for us, and then I joined and helped when I finished the day shift. As people finished the later shift, they made their way over to enjoy so we could enjoy the holiday together.”
Katie Lyons, firefighter
“Working on the holidays has just become routine for me. It’s not bad because in the fire service, you’re with people for 24 hours at a time, and we work together 10 days a month already. We have about a 96- to 54-hour workweek on average, and we get to know each other really well. We break bread together on regular shifts anyway, so everybody gets to be pretty close and know one another personally, so on holidays, it’s just an extended version of family.
When the tones go off, we go and do our job. When we come back, we still try to do holiday things. We’ll invite families up to the station, and people bring their kids and their loved ones. We celebrate the holidays the same way you would at home. We start cooking family meals and sometimes exchange gifts, and we have a tree up too. We try to optimize our time together as a shift and as a work family.”
Janelle Courtney, cognitive rehab therapist
“I work at a rehabilitation center for individuals who have brain injuries. My place of employment is a 24-7 facility, so when I have the chance to work holidays, I do. It is always special to be there with clients, especially those without families. We have a chef that prepares a Thanksgiving meal for all of the staff and clients to enjoy if they did not have the chance to be with their families, friends, etc. Throughout the day, we do Thanksgiving-related crafts, puzzles, and other games and activities.”
Chi Ilochi, Styling by Chi founder
“My company aims to heal, empower, and inspire through fashion and style. Before Thanksgiving and Christmas in particular, I like to do free community personal styling and shopping for those who may be mentally ill, autistic, at risk, elderly, or less fortunate so that they feel stylish, confident, and warm before holidays that leave many feeling out of place. On the holiday itself, I’m usually virtually styling and personal shopping. Many don’t know how to dress warm — or can’t afford to — so I teach them how to bundle up and layer their clothing. I end the session by providing sweaters, home appliances, jeans, gloves, and more.”
Daniella McMillan, neonatal intensive care unit nurse
“Usually, we do a potluck and maybe throw on a fun shirt or holiday hats. The hospitals I’ve worked in don’t usually love bedside staff dressing up because if you have to deliver bad news to a family or there’s an emergency, you want to look professional and not be dressed in a costume during someone’s toughest moments.
Sometimes, I do have to work holidays from home as a nurse reviewer for an insurance company, and I can still celebrate with my family as my reviews are done. If I have to miss holidays, we try to celebrate them earlier. This year, I’m hosting an early Thanksgiving. Last year, my parents hosted an early Christmas. We learned that the holidays are more about how you spend time together when you’re together — and it doesn’t matter the day.”
Danielle M. Hernandez, restaurant worker
“As an actor in New York City, I've worked many odd jobs since graduating from college. It was only a matter of time before I fell into the classic restaurant jobs. Holidays are the busiest days, and there's no guarantee of being free.
My family is Puerto Rican, and one of our biggest traditions is making the coconut and rum equivalent of eggnog, Coquito. It's a party in a glass. I always gift a bottle to my coworkers. Each year I'm asked when we will start making our batches. It reminds us that people are thinking of you. The holidays can be terribly depressing if the circumstances aren't right, and bringing a mini-celebration helps me share the wealth.”
Callie Spruill, zookeeper
“We bond as a team by creating fun holiday-themed enrichment for the animals. Enrichment is something zookeepers provide for the animals we care for daily to help encourage natural behaviors and add novelty to the animals’ day-to-day lives. This can look like hiding food around an animal’s habitat to encourage foraging, freezing food into ice blocks to make it challenging for them to get to their food, or introducing novel scents like vanilla extract to provide a sensory experience. Around this time, keepers like to get creative and will often theme the enrichment activities based on the holiday.”
Mia Brabham is a staff writer at Shondaland. Follow her on Twitter at @hotmessmia.
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