Celebrate with rituals centered around the light in every day.
Across the world, winter holidays are filled with traditions that celebrate light: Hanukkah candles, Kwanzaa’s kinara, solstice fires, Diwali diyas, Christmas lights, and New Year’s fireworks. Light reminds us of hope, renewal, and connection whenever there is darkness or difficulty.
At Living Beyond Breast Cancer, we believe every breast cancer thriver carries a light within that persists through change, challenge, and celebration alike. This season, we honor that inner glow through stories and gift ideas curated by our community that bring warmth, comfort, and joy to thrivers and their loved ones.
May this season bring warmth to your home, peace to your heart, and light to your days. Shine on.
When mindset coach and author Bethany Adair faced debilitating pain after progression of metastatic breast cancer, she thought her skiing days were behind her. She was struggling to walk and relied on daily pain meds. After starting a targeted therapy just before the holidays, her symptoms drastically improved. She and her husband, Tim, were able to return to the slopes on Christmas Day, grateful tears falling as they looked out from the top of the mountain.
“We were just in awe that my body could heal like this. It felt like light returning after a long darkness. Skiing is one of my greatest joys – it makes me feel so alive! Every moment I get to spend in the mountains is extra special now,” Bethany says.
When the body and spirit are tested, warmth — shared, given, and received — helps energy return.
Each year, the day after Thanksgiving, LBBC’s Community Engagement Coordinator Jade Lleonart and her family gather at her mother Maria’s home to decorate the Christmas tree. The scent of cookies fills the kitchen, holiday music plays, and every ornament tells a story. During the pandemic, when Maria was treated for early-stage breast cancer, these simple traditions took on deeper meaning. They were reminders of resilience, joy, and love shared across generations.
“Every time we open the ornament box, we can’t help but reminisce,” Jade says. “Each piece holds a memory that shines.”
When health challenges shift our sense of normalcy, we can give ourselves permission to maintain traditions that work for us and create new ones that honor where we are now in the healing journey. These gifts encourage meaningful moments to share across generations.
Early-stage breast and prostate cancer thriver Bob Riter believes the most meaningful gifts are the ones that celebrate life. After his own breast cancer diagnosis, he came to value experiences that create memories, such as meals shared with friends, tickets to a concert, or a walk through a favorite park.
Bob’s advice for the holidays: Focus on gifts that honor connection and create moments that bring light into the everyday.
“Give people an opportunity to think about something other than cancer,” Bob says.
After treatment, it’s common to crave connection to activities that remind us who we are beyond illness. These gifts celebrate presence, purpose, and community.
For metastatic breast cancer thriver Jeanmarie Mason, the holidays begin the day after Thanksgiving. She and her husband, Don, pull out more than 15 bins of decorations: wreaths, blow molds, and a large nativity scene that fills their South Jersey home with light. But her favorite tradition comes later in the season, when they bundle up and visit the holiday trees along the Ocean City beaches. Each one is decorated by local families and groups, shining brightly against the winter sky.
“It’s become our new tradition since we retired,” Jean says. “Seeing all those lights by the ocean feels magical.”
Finding light during winter’s long nights can be an act of healing. These gifts blend comfort and creativity for those seeking warmth — physical and emotional — to celebrate the season.
During the shorter, darker days of winter, LBBC Young Advocate Lilly Ribner finds peace by spending time near the ocean. The steady rhythm of the waves reminds her to slow down and breathe, and the vastness of the water helps her feel both grounded and connected. A quiet walk along the shore brings a sense of renewal that carries her through the season. Lilly searches for heart-shaped shells and stones on the beach that she gives as gifts.
“The ocean reminds me that light and calm are always there — I just have to look for them,” Lilly says.
The rhythm of the sea mirrors steady, patient healing. These gifts capture that sense of grounding for those navigating the ebb and flow of recovery.
As the year draws to a close, triple-negative breast cancer thriver LaTrenda Ross reflects on the love and kindness that have carried her through breast cancer. Friends, family, and even strangers have shown up for her in ways big and small. They are reminders that compassion can brighten the darkest days.
LaTrenda honors the season through heartfelt, practical acts of generosity. Sometimes it’s a simple text that says, “Good morning, I was thinking of you.” Other times, she pays for a stranger’s coffee or lunch, or she adds $5 toward someone’s purchase. She writes emails to colleagues to express gratitude or shares a daily Bible verse, something many people send her as a reminder of hope and faith.
“I’m not rich in money,” LaTrenda says. “But I am rich in love, and that is what I choose to give.”
These low-cost heartfelt ideas honor LaTrenda’s spirit of giving and remind us that compassion is the most luminous gift of all.
For Mona Ellakany, the holidays bring her back to her first December in the United States — a snowy town glowing with decorations and lights. Those bright streets reminded her of Ramadan celebrations in Egypt, where lanterns and strings of lights connect homes, happy faces, and warm hearts.
Today, the season carries even more meaning. Her children’s birthdays fall between December and January, turning these months into an extended time of celebration before the arrival of Ramadan in late winter. Mona feels deeply grateful for each year lived, cherished, and enjoyed with her kids. Capturing this season in countless photos is a tradition she adores.
“It’s truly about the joy and the light,” Mona says. “The decorations, the vibes — they all make me feel happy and blessed.”
For many, joy itself becomes a healing force. These radiant gifts offer a sense of magic to the season.
Every December, my family begins one of our favorite traditions: a holiday movie night countdown. We rotate our selections to keep things fresh, having learned that yes, it’s possible to watch Elf too many times. Love Actually somehow remains an annual “must,” despite none of us being rom-com fans. We love digging for the unexpected holiday film — Die Hard, anyone? — to refresh the list and keep the tradition going. In the end, the magic lies in keeping what feels good, skipping what doesn’t, and always adding a new twist that keeps everyone smiling.
“If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaky feeling love actually is all around.” – Prime Minister David, Love Actually
After long months of treatment or transition, laughter and ritual can restore a sense of normalcy. These gifts make movie nights a tradition of comfort, connection, and lighthearted escape.
Finding calm in the holiday hustle
Watch the recording of our recent Instagram Live program featuring thrivers Lynn Folkman and Jonise Louis as they share how they navigate the joyful, hectic, and sometimes complicated holiday season.
Tagged:
Living Beyond Breast Cancer is a national nonprofit organization that seeks to create a world that understands there is more than one way to have breast cancer. To fulfill its mission of providing trusted information and a community of support to those impacted by the disease, Living Beyond Breast Cancer offers on-demand emotional, practical, and evidence-based content. For over 30 years, the organization has remained committed to creating a culture of acceptance — where sharing the diversity of the lived experience of breast cancer fosters self-advocacy and hope. For more information, learn more about our programs and services.
