In 2020 COVID-19 was in full swing. The holidays were approaching and I was not leaving the house because I was afraid of being exposed. I am high risk due to my disability. One day, I went to the store and purchased a gingerbread house kit. This led to a bizarre and new kind of holiday tradition.
When I got home, I put away all my grocery items and I took the gingerbread house kit and left it on the countertop. Three days later I was bored out of my mind, and I decided to attempt to build it. I thought building a box gingerbread house with instructions was going to be easy. Now, I don’t know if it was just because of my disability or some other reason, but I was really having a difficult time putting together this gingerbread house, Yet, I am a determined individual. Eventually, I completed the gingerbread house. It wasn’t perfect and it definitely didn’t look like the picture on the box. Still, I completed it and it made me feel good, especially with being stuck in the house.
Fast forward to 2021. Christmas and the holidays came around. and I found myself getting another gingerbread house. I ended up building that one too. This year, I decided to do the exact same thing. I found a Godiva chocolate gingerbread house at HomeGoods. I hadn’t seen that model before, so I decided to get it. I took all the individual pieces out and suddenly received a phone call from my friend. I told him what I was doing and he asked if I wasn’t a little old to be building gingerbread houses? I explained that it’s become some sort of a bizzare tradition, one that I will keep doing! It’s a good way to feel accomplished during the holidays especially for somebody like myself who cannot stay warm because of my disability, even when it’s 50 degrees out.
We all have our own challenges in life it might not be the easiest for me to build a gingerbread house with the use of pretty much only one hand, but for some reason, I stay determined, and I figure out a way to make it work, I am very thankful for the opportunity to build something, even if it’s viewed as “just for kids” or silly. I look forward to building a gingerbread house every year if my body allows me to do so.
About Josh McDermott: Josh is a brand ambassador for Quantum Rehab®. He is a public speaker and has served as a goodwill ambassador for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Josh lives in New York and loves to travel. Click hereto learn more about Josh.