In a military community, families are used to having someone overseas during Christmas. But for the hundreds of European NATO families assigned to Norfolk, they're the ones who are away from home.
Finding the spirit while being thousands of miles from family isn't easy.
“Many of our families do get to go back home, however, those that do remain, typically they’re bonding together," said Angela Freeburn, Chair of SOPC, an organization of around 250 NATO spouses.
Two of those spouses are Katrina Pastore Ozolina and Giedre Misiune.
The two met after their husbands — the National Representatives for Latvia and Lithuania, respectively — were assigned to Norfolk. It's their third Christmas in a country that isn't theirs.
"(Back home), all the December, we always bake gingerbreads," said Ozolina from her kitchen in Chesapeake, where she's baked and intricately decorated dozens of gingerbread cookies.
There, Ozolina lives with her husband and two kids and it's where they will celebrate Christmas in the U.S. for the last time this year, before their orders take them home to Latvia.
“In one way, I feel good because I miss my country," she told News 3. “(But) I’m really thankful for this time in America because, when I came, I really wasn’t excited about everything, but now when I’m looking back...yeah, it’s a blessing.”
Among those blessings are more family time and a chance for her to take a break from a busy career overseas. That's not to mention the friendships she's built, like the one with Misiune, who joined her in gingerbread making.
“In Lithuania, we have, like, the main tradition on Christmas Eve to put 12 dishes. 12 dishes and you have to taste all the 12 dishes! Then it will be a successful year or something like that," Misiune said with a laugh.
She then pours dozens of handmade snowflake ornaments onto the counter.
“They are crocheted…of course by hand," Misuine told News 3. "The last time I crocheted (was) in school years. I was a teenager. Two years ago ,I started again because we need something for Christmas market."
Ozolina's gingerbread and Misiune's snowflakes aren't just to keep at home. They're to sell at the annual NATO SOPC charity Christmas market that was in early December.
There, each country sells from a different table to the NATO and military personnel moving through the Allied Command Transformation (ACT) Headquarters in Norfolk. French spouses make and sell homemade crepes. Italians walk around with homemade pizza.
“This allows for our different nations that are all within NATO, 31 nations plus partner nations, be able to unify and pull together and under one roof and one event, be able to celebrate not just Christmas but the holidays and each other," said Freeburn.
This year, all sales of the homemade food and gifts went to Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters and Operation Blessing. The event raised more than $19,000, according to Freeburn.
It's all from NATO families looking to support efforts in their new community.
Like Ozolina, this is also Misiune's last Christmas in Hampton Roads. She and her family will return to Lithuania in 2024.
“I’m sad a bit, like Katrina. I’m really used to here. I like it now," she told News 3.
But, rest assured, there's plenty to take home, including traditions and friendships that wouldn't have been possible without that initial leap at a new opportunity in a new country.
