What is it about the Holidays?

Well, Chanukah and Christmas are over for another year and I’m sure I’m not the only one for whom this season triggers many memories.

Christmas wasn’t a holiday we celebrated when I was growing up, we didn’t have a tree or exchange gifts, but we certainly got into its joyful spirit. Ours was a close family, and we spent just about every day and evening together for that week. Good times, good food and much laughter is what I remember.

Like all kids, I looked forward to being out of school for a

Never to be taken for granted …

A friend’s grandson just turned 1 and I went to his birthday party.  I was talking to her daughter’s (the baby’s mother) father-in-law and Ellen (my friend) said to him, “Fransi and I have known each other all our lives.”  He was intrigued and wanted to know more.

Our mothers met in the laundry room of the apartment building where they both lived, in Montreal.  I was an infant.  Her parents were newlyweds.  The