Thanksgiving in the States was amazing – three days off of school, loads of great food, and if we were lucky, fresh humidity-free weather where we could open all the windows in our house and let in the cool breeze. When I was a teenager I guess, like most, I thought Thanksgiving was kinda dull – it was always just us and my grandparents, and one holiday seemed to blend into the next. But now, looking back, I wish more than anything that I had relished in those days and taken it all in more… because today I would do anything to sit around the dinner table and have my grandfather there.

My mom was always a pro at big holiday meals… she made it look so easy, and she made it sooooo delicious! Turkeys, hams, and roasts, loads of sides, and always the most decadent of desserts (I still request Hungarian raspberry jam cake and my brother will forever be addicted to her brownies with homemade frosting). The table was always beautifully set with certain dishes we only saw on those special days, and dinner was always on time – she did it all like a choreographed dance. My dad would help too but he was more about keeping us busy and out of the kitchen – he’d wrangle up all the kids who lived on our cul-de-sac to get a game of ball hockey going, and on Christmas Eves he and a bunch of neighbours would go down to the local ice rink and gather the snow that had been cleared by the zamboni and then brought it home to dump on our front lawn so the neighbourhood kids could have a snowball fight (OK, and the grown-ups would play too).

I also loved having a holiday outfit. That probably stopped around the age of 12 but I remember, before every Thanksgiving/Christmas, my mom and I would go shopping to find a new dress or pants suit for the holidays (yes, a pants suit – it was the late 80s and early 90s people!). I loved getting all dolled up for a holiday, and being the little girl who everyone oohed and ahhed over.

I will forever remember holidays in Florida. I definitely took them for granted at the time, but I feel so lucky to have such wonderful memories of Thanksgivings and Christmases…