Full disclosure, this post is a slight detour from my typical travel feature. A little over a year ago, my sister and her family moved from Tampa to Jacksonville, Fla. For the past several years, Kevin and I would visit Florida around Christmas and plan out a fun activity for the family. We’ve done glass blowing classes, goat yoga (aka, Vinyasa flow with goat pee) and a food walking tour through St. Petersburg (where our guide never actually showed up and I had to lead it). Okay, clearly some ideas go over much better than others!
Decorating the gingerbread house, a family tradition carried on.
Holidays have always been a big deal in my family. My mom once even bought over a dozen collars for our dog, Doug, decorated for just about every holiday imaginable including Hanukkah… My family isn’t even Jewish! That’s why this Thanksgiving was particularly tough for me — as it was the first big family holiday without my mom, who passed away earlier this year from pancreatic cancer.
Last year’s Thanksgiving with my mom — hard to believe it’s been a year.
My mom loved travel (and inspired me to write a blog post of some of her favorite travel spots). But even more than travel, she adored the holidays — decorating a gingerbread house with my sister and me as kids and later my nephews and niece, buying scratch off lottery tickets for the family (that never amounted to what she actually spent on them!) and collecting piles of gifts throughout the year. Oh she loved to shop…
My mom and Kevin enjoy perusing the cheese counter. An shopping activity they both could agree on!
Thanksgiving brought up a lot of mixed emotions for everyone. But it also made me feel so incredibly fortunate and even more grateful for what we have. We are thankful for our family, good health and the time we have together. Hey, we’re even grateful for our dog Doug (who has had his own health scares… over and over). I swear, he’s the adopted dog who costs as much as a child at times!
Kevin comforts Doug, wearing his red Valentine’s Day collar, during one of his many vet appointments. Oh Doug.
But I know mom is smiling down — knowing that our holiday traditions continue on whether it’s the family coming together for Thanksgiving dinner or changing Doug’s collar to celebrate Election Day. Clearly, she didn’t leave ANY holidays on the table.
Dad, Christa, an enthusiastic Mark, me and my mom are ready to cook on one of our holiday adventures.
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