Blending Traditions
W
Home for the
ith seven children and six grandkids, no two Christmases are the same for Cristy and Gary Burchill. The couple lives in a 1929 colonial in Hope Valley, which they moved to in February 2015 from Massachusetts. This will be only their second Christmas in the home, as the couple spent the holiday that year in Hawaii. Cristy and Gary have been married for fiveand-a-half years, and their adult children from previous relationships are scattered far and wide. Cristy has three kids: Catie Pechiney of Chicago, Liz Pechiney of Columbus, Ohio and Jeff Pechiney and his wife, Carina, of Houston. Of Gary’s four children and their partners, Lauren and Brian Liebednik live in Westpoint, New York; Matthew Burchill is in New York City; and the closest of the children, Mark and Lily Burchill, and Mary and Andrew Ifalice, live in Washington D.C. Between the two of them, Cristy and Gary have six grandkids: Cole, 11; Alex, 9; Tristan, 8; Zachary, 5; Ryan, 2; and Julian, who was born in October. In a blended family with a lot of distance between them, the collection of people around the Burchills’ Christmas Day dinner table is always a little different. This year, three of Gary’s kids will be in town with their families.
HOLIDAYS Four families share how they celebrate the season in Durham P HOTO G RA P H Y B Y BR IA NA BR OUGH
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durhammag.com
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december/january 2018