VERMILLION, S.D.–Anticipation, excitement, love and laughter fill the Duffy household throughout the Christmas holiday each year. Christmas brings the return of eight children to Dan's and Karrie's home in Rapid City, S.D., from across the country.
It's a special time of year for South Dakota women's basketball guards
Caitlin Duffy and
Ciara Duffy, who rejoin their siblings Brendan, Liam, Moira, Aislinn, Mairin and Decklan, between the nonconference and Summit League slates.
"Our parents have always done such a great job of making Christmas so magical every year," said Caitlin. "Waking up on Christmas morning is exactly how it should be for a child."
Christmas with the Duffys provides plenty of tradition, including their annual "Advent Angel" or "Secret Santa" gift exchange. The drawing of names takes place the morning after Thanksgiving, either in person or through Skype. Once a name is drawn, the "Secret Santa" prays for that individual throughout Advent, finds them the perfect present and writes a letter to go with it.
While more than half of the Duffy family is now out of the house, when the tradition first began it included a group trip to the mall to shop for presents.
"We would go to random areas of the store just to throw people off," Ciara said. "For instance, trying to be spotted in the boys' section of the toy store when you have a girl's name. It was so nerve wracking, trying to not be spotted by a sibling with the present."
After everyone is back together in the Black Hills, their days include sledding, ice skating, eating sweets and watching "It's a Wonderful Life" as a family.
On the night before Christmas, the family gets dressed up for Christmas Eve mass. They take their annual Christmas photo on the altar following the service, then rush home for dinner.
"We always make sure right after we are done with dinner that it's the fastest we have ever cleaned the kitchen in our life," Caitlin laughed. "We just want to get to that night."
Gathered in a circle, they unveil their "Secret Santa" gifts one by one.
"This is a little cheesy, but the best part is reading the letter they wrote," said Ciara. "Especially the letters that the little kids write are so sweet. I always save them."
After presents, the children put out a glass of milk and cookies for Santa along with carrots, celery and a bowl of water for the reindeer. That night, the boys share one room while the girls all share another. First thing in the morning, Dan and Karrie video tape the children running up the stairs to the presents laid out under the tree.
A love of Christmas is not the only passion the Duffy family shares – the Duffys have been a basketball family dating back to both of their grandfathers playing the game. In addition to the handful of boys' and girls' state titles accumulated at St. Thomas More High School, the first five children have gone on to play collegiately.
Brendan played basketball for Oxford University in England, Liam played for Rockhurst University (Mo.), Caitlin's a fifth-year senior at South Dakota, Moira is in her junior year at the University of Sioux Falls and Ciara has earned a starting spot in her freshman season for the Coyotes.
"The cool part for all of us has always been that we could do this together," said Caitlin. "It was something that we shared. We took the game incredibly seriously, but we genuinely just love to play pick-up games on our driveway too. We are very competitive, so there were times where we were a little rough. It was good though, having older brothers definitely toughened you up."
"There weren't a lot of fouls called," Ciara laughed. "It was like, rub some dirt on it. It definitely made me the player I am today."
While Caitlin has been sidelined in the past several months, being able to share the team and the University of South Dakota with Ciara has been a great opportunity.
"We are so blessed," Caitlin said. "To be able to help her adjust to college and share advice with her and the other freshmen has been great. There's something so special about being in South Dakota for us too."
"I genuinely don't know what I would do without Caitlin," Ciara said. "After I signed, a lot of people told me how cool it would be for me and Caitlin to be together. To actually experience it, having family here with me, I am just so lucky."
