Joy Drop: Holiday festivities and traditions, World Cup memories wrap up 2022

It's hard to believe we are almost at the end of the year. There are so many important festivals and celebrations happening at this time, I wanted to share some of that joy. 

The first night of Hanukkah was earlier this week. There are eight days in the Festival of Lights. This important holiday is enjoyed with food, games and the lighting of a candle every night on a menorah. And I can't forget the famous Happy Hanukkah song by Adam Sandler from Saturday Night Live circa 1994. 

The longest day in the winter solstice is also a Persian celebration called Yalda traditionally celebrated in Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Yalda is the eve of the first day of winter and is celebrated with the gathering of families and eating fruits such as watermelon, pomegranate, drinking tea and sharbat (a sweet drink). 

Christmas is a few days away and many prepare for the most anticipated holiday of the year by wrapping presents, stuffing stockings and decorating a tree, many also start up their holiday movie rituals. TV Guide and Vanity Fair have offered great ideas on new holiday movies. I will re-watch Home Alone and The Sound of Music for sure. Speaking of that, Jack Grealish of the English men's national football team took a vacation in New York City and visited locations from Home Alone 2 with his girlfriend, Sasha Atwood.

Immediately following Christmas comes Kwanzaa, a seven-day festival honouring many different harvest festivals from Africa. Kwanzaa comes from the term "Kwanza" which means "first" and also celebrates the first fruits at harvest time. 

It began to be celebrated more prominently in Canada by 1993. The seven days represent seven principles that help African-Americans and those in the diaspora reconnect to their African heritage. There are in-person festivals all over Canada in different communities. Kwanzaa has no specific religious connection but celebrates Pan-African culture. 

I wanted to add that recognizing different cultures and customs is important. We know that representation matters. In that vein, I wanted to share something I found very exciting: Heal In Colour is an adhesive bandage company that was started by Tianna McFarlane. McFarlane works full-time at York University but told me she started Heal in Colour because she wanted to make Black and Brown bandages the norm. It's a local Black-owned business and I loved being able to choose my skin-toned bandaid. It's incredible how much happiness these little adhesive bandages brought me. 

As some wait for Santa, it seems he arrived early in Argentina as the World Cup trophy parade in Buenos Aires drew out more than four million people earlier this week. 

The Athletic published an article about Argentine commentator Andrés Cantor whose son Nico (also a soccer journalist) also documented his father's joy. Sports media personalities are humans, too and Cantor's joy was beautiful to watch. It is the essence of what we love about football. 

As the World Cup drew to a close, it was beautiful to see the celebrations in Morocco, Croatia and even in France where the players are loved and treated as heroes.

As expected, racist abuse against Black players from France was reported. It is unacceptable and completely against what we love about the beautiful game. These players are role models to many and their worth is invaluable. What a memorable World Cup and I hope we take this energy and excitement into the Women's World Cup in 2023! 

I leave you with a mural of Morocco's Achraf Hakimi's mother kissing him and both of them dancing: