Holidays normally consist of families travelling across state lines to be greeted by big hugs from relatives and the sharing of food. Because of the pandemic, some members of UAB’s leadership have created ways to safely celebrate Thanksgiving.

Ray Watts, UAB President, said throughout COVID-19, he has admired UAB’s ability to adapt and rise above. For him, adapting doesn’t end when the holidays roll around.

“Thanksgiving is one of our special holidays where we try to always bring the family together, usually here at our home,” Watts said. “For all of those folks to come together without having quarantined for 14 days beforehand, it puts other family members at risk.”

Watts said that while some family members are visiting for the upcoming holiday, they are taking special precautions this year.

“We’re going to have one of our children and his wife here for Thanksgiving, but they’re coming down a couple of weeks early and they’re going to quarantine away from us,” Watts said. “Then we’ll have Thanksgiving together because we’ll all be safe without COVID.”

Watts said that among the challenges of this year, the UAB faculty continues to work harder than ever before.

“We’ve always been very hard workers, but it’s really been being on call 24/7, to make sure we do everything possible to keep our large UAB community safe,” Watts said. “We have 23,000 employees and 22,563 students and that’s a lot of people. It’s almost 50,000 people so that’s like a city. So it’s our responsibility to make sure we do everything possible to keep our UAB community-our faculty and staff and students safe and free from this virus.”

Watts said he recognizes the challenges students and professors have faced through learning online and appreciates how the UAB community was able to adapt to this situation.

“We will get through this and we will be stronger on the other side,” Watts said.

For Pam Benoit, Ph.D., vice president for Academic Affairs and Provost, Thanksgiving is going virtual this year.

“Everybody’s going to bring a favorite family photo to share and talk about why it’s their favorite,” Benoit said. “We’re going to do a gratitude jar, where you work on putting together things that you’re grateful for. We’ll read those out like we do at Thanksgiving dinner, when we talk about what we’re thankful for.”

In addition to changes with traditional holiday celebrations, Benoit said her work life has changed significantly since going remote.

“I felt like for eight months, I’ve been working pretty much constantly, and you can’t do that for that long and not begin to feel the effects,” Benoit said. “I think what Dr. Angela Stowe has been talking about, taking care of yourself is also really important.”

Benoit has used painting as a creative outlet to clear her mind.

“It’s a way for me to shut everything else down for a short time and be able to just concentrate on what I’m creating,” Benoit said.

Benoit said she looks forward to simple acts like giving hugs once life returns to normal.

“That’s the thing I probably miss the most,” Benoit said. “Seeing people, interacting more with people (and) being able to touch people. I thought a lot about how the essence of being human is actually being able to have that important kind of touch and we’re really limited in what we can do there right now.”

John Jones, Vice President of Student Affairs, said his Thanksgivings are usually spent with more than 25 relatives, all gathering to share what they’re most grateful for. This year, Jones is celebrating his gratitude in a different way.

“Generally, we go back to North Carolina and spend time with my mom and my siblings as well as extended family,” Jones said. “Usually on thanksgiving, there’s about 25 or 30 of us gathering together to celebrate and be thankful for the year, and all the things that have been blessed upon us. This year we’re not, we’re staying in Birmingham and we’re going to just celebrate Thanksgiving with my wife and two kids.”

Jones said that making this sacrifice is important and can help keep his family healthy.

“If we are intentional about protecting ourselves, then we are also, as a consequence of that, protecting others as well,” Jones said. “Continue to wear your mask, continue to wash your hands continue to practice social distancing.

Jones said that through family tragedy, he has continued to focus on protecting others and lowering the spread of COVID-19.

“Within the last couple of months, I had a passing of a grandmother,” Jones said. “Even though I had a chance to pay my respects, certainly I had to ensure that my wife and two kids were being healthy and safe, so they could not attend as well, because we had to minimize the risks and chances that we take.”

Eating outside, spacing apart and limiting guests from outside of the immediate family are just a few ways to stay safe this Thanksgiving.