For many people, family celebrations are an integral part of every Thanksgiving and Christmas. But if a family member is working on either holiday, plans need to be adjusted when it comes to traditions such as opening gifts or gathering for a dinner. Two Lake County residents who have worked their share of Thanksgiving and Christmas days discussed how family celebrations are handled and ways they stay cheerful when they’re at their places of employment on the holidays. Perry Joint Fire District Lt. Nick Kohr, center, poses for a photo in the kitchen of the district’s Station 1 with firefighter Alan Doyle, left, and firefighter Kris Keyes. Kohr said it’s challenging to be away from his family while working on holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. But he added that being a first responder sometimes requires putting feelings aside, “which can include missing your family and realizing plain and simple you have a job to do.” (Courtesy of Lt. Nick Kohr) Lt. Nick Kohr, firefighter Kohr has worked for the past 15 years as a firefighter with the Perry Joint Fire District. He is based at the fire district’s Station 1 on Center Road in Perry Village and works in 24-hour shift cycles that begin and end at 7:30 a.m. Kohr resides in Perry Township with his wife and three sons. When he’s scheduled to work on Thanksgiving, Kohr said his wife and sons have a set routine for celebrating the holiday. “Thankfully, my wife is incredibly supportive and has a fairly big family that she takes them to visit, so the boys still have a great Thanksgiving experience,” he said. Kohr said his sons miss him when he can’t attend the dinners, but have a good comprehension of what his job involves. “My career is something they have just been used to their entire lives, so every third day, they know dad is gone and has a job to do,” he said. 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Jim McDonald — who have been willing to stay a bit longer from the previous shift leading into Christmas Day, so he could at least “hang out at home while the boys open gifts.” Kohr also keeps in mind that when he gets home the day after Christmas, his sons will still display plenty of enthusiasm about their yuletide gifts. “So it almost makes for two exciting mornings instead of just one,” he said. As for the Christmas Day dinner menu at Station 1 when Kohr is in charge, he said he likes to treat B Shift firefighters to steaks. “I know the struggle it can be for all of us to be away from our families,” he said. Being a first responder sometimes requires putting feelings aside, “which can include missing your family and realizing plain and simple you have a job to do,” Kohr said. “Even more so, as I live in the community, I do find privilege providing aid to those here when in a time of need,” he said. “I did not grow up here, but through my nine years of being a resident, strangers have become friends and some friends even become family, so I guess in that regard, even on shift I do still spend time with ‘family.’ ” Nancy Erikson, registered nurse Erikson has been employed for the past 10 1/2 years as a registered nurse at Cleveland Clinic Hillcrest Hospital in Mayfield Heights. She works on the hospital’s medical surgical cardiac floor. She resides in Willoughby Hills. Her husband is Karl Johnson. The couple have a 20-year-old son, Nate Johnson, who is a college student. Erikson works nights at Cleveland Clinic Hillcrest Hospital, with three 12-hour shifts per week. She and her fellow nurses have a system for staffing every Thanksgiving and Christmas at Hillcrest. “So basically what we do at the hospital, we take turns,” she said. “So if you’re working Christmas Eve, then you don’t work Christmas Day night. So it’s kind of like that. Whichever one we’re not working, that’s when we celebrate with our families.” Although some children are deeply disappointed when a parent has to work on Thanksgiving or Christmas, Erikson said that her son, Nate, “was always pretty understanding.” In fact, during one holiday season, Nate actually participated in a Christmas project that involved nurses at Hillcrest, Erikson recalled. “One year, we made fleece tie blankets with flannel (for an organization that served women in need),” Erikson said. “And he was like, ‘I want to make one too, Mom.’ ” Nate ended up creating one of the blankets that was donated to the organization. During Thanksgiving and Christmas shifts, nurses in Erikson’s unit often bring in an assortment of food to make the occasion more festive. “People joke, ‘You want to go to the nurse’s break room because they have the best food,’ ” she said. “A lot of times we’ll do a potluck, so as we can take our breaks, we have some food there.” Erikson entered the nursing profession after working for many years as a journalist. She graduated with an associate’s degree in nursing from Lakeland Community College in 2013 and passed the National Council Licensure Examination for registered nurses that same year. In 2018, she earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing by taking online courses at Ohio University. Erikson said she considers it “kind of a privilege” to work as a nurse on holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. “I think that’s why we all got into the nursing profession was to help people and make them feel better,” she said. “Particularly this time of year, it can be hard on patients and their families, and so we try to bring them a little bit of comfort and help them that way.”