Video: A Moment
It’s that time of year when Canadians come together to line the streets for some holiday cheer with their community. We couldn’t help but share this moment from the Toronto Santa Claus Parade captured by Jon Simonassi for My City Lives. This video encompasses a moment at that parade, a moment where nothing else in the city matters and a moment that kids will remember forever:
Have a favourite holiday memory?
Share it with us for your chance to win a $250 Flight Centre Gift Card!
**THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.**
Congratulations to Cailin from Halifax for winning!
Cailin’s favourite holiday memory:
I have two favorite holiday memories!
When I was a little kid every Christmas Eve Santa Claus would come knock on our door before we went to bed and visit my sister and I and a few of our friends in the neighborhood. It was always so cool and exciting, but to this date my parents still won’t tell us who it really was dressed as Santa.
My other favorite memory is picking out the perfect Christmas tree every year with my father, I’m sure its something everyone might do but for me its always my favorite memory 🙂
Thank you to everyone who submitted their holiday memories.
Happy Holidays from the Flight Centre team!
About the Author
Emma Hackwood a freelance copywriter, amateur glider pilot and full-time adventure seeker, has travelled extensively in pursuit of her lifelong dream of simply seeing it all. Up to over 50 countries, she lists American Samoa and the seldom visited Marquesas Islands as her current favourite destinations, with a wandering eye on Guam and Tonga to complete her Pacific escapades.
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My favorite holiday memory has to be as a kid. I remember spending countless hours in the kitchen with my Nan helping her prepare all the holiday treats. I have a picture of me standing on an old vinyl chocolate brown chair with a mini apron identical to my Nan’s on, helping her bake. Probably making more of a nuisance of myself than anything, but she never said that. I mixed, rolled, shaped and of course ate all of our creations. I miss working along side my Nan, but treasure all of the holiday memories that I have inside my heart because of her. Now it is my time to share and create family holiday memories with my own family.
my favorite holiday memories are when I was a child and every year we would drive from London ontario to detroit michigan on the 23rd and visit family friends to spend xmas with them, we would stay up late on the 24th and open presents at midnight it was the perfect mix of holiday and family. Problem was after a few years of bad snowstorms my family decided to stop the tradition. We started going on easter instead but the appeal wasnt the same
thank
mvilmark -at – hotmail-dot-com
mark.
My favourite holiday memories have to be when I was younger… My brother’s and I would try to stay up as late as we could to try to see Santa, but would be listening to the radio to hear when he was coming to make sure that we weren’t awake when he came so that we wouldn’t get caught! Then we’d all wake up early in the morning and try to get my parents out of bed for about half an hour until they finally gave in. It was so exciting going downstairs to see the cookies and milk for Santa gone, as well as the carrots we left for the reindeer!
I have two favorite holiday memories!
When I was a little kid every Christmas Eve Santa Claus would come knock on our door before we went to bed and visit my sister and I and a few of our friends in the neighborhood. It was always so cool and exciting, but to this date my parents still won’t tell us who it really was dressed as Santa.
My other favorite memory is picking out the perfect Christmas tree every year with my father, I’m sure its something everyone might do but for me its always my favorite memory 🙂
My favorite holiday memory is when Dad flooded the huge garden area and made a big skating rink. He strung up lots of Christmas lights and put on Christmas music so us 6 kids could skate in the evening. Mom and Dad would sit on the porch with hot chocolate and watch us for hours.
My favorite holiday memory is when I was 27, and meeting my half sisters & father for the first time. I had already met my sisters, and they decided to fly my Dad in for Christmas. He was over the moon when we all surprised him at the airport. One of my best Christmas’ ever!
Pingback: A Moment: Video by My City Lives | Alicia Taggio
My favourite memory is wen on december 25th in the morning, sitting in the living room with my kids and earing the key in the door it was my father coming passing a couple of days with us. The Holidays are not the same since he pass. Love Dad Grand-papa Be.
Christmas dinners at my grandmother’s farm with all the relatives are my most treasured memories. Lots of great food, laughter, gossiping and a few gifts, and then the walk through the swnowy fields to midnight mass. Nothing since has come close.
brotschi (at) yahoo (dot) com
my favourtite memory is every christmas eve my mom gives me new pyjamas and I give her the same so we wear them that night and wake up for xmas morning in new cozy pj`s.
My last Christmas spent with my mom is my favorite holiday memory! 🙂
Just last year we travelled to Disney World with the family over the winter break. It was my first time visiting and I was 20 but I still felt the magic and wonder 🙂 It was definitely an amazing experience and I’d love to go again!
My favorite holiday memory is a special tradition started by my mum when I was 2. On the first Sunday in December, we host all the mothers and daughters, and very important females in our lives for a ‘come and go’ high tea at our house.
Together, my mum and I make everything by hand from the invitations, to every edible treat and pot of tea and coffee; and decorate the house to the brim with holiday decor. We use the ‘good china’ and in 28 years have yet to break one piece! In several cases, this is the only event that we all see each other socially; starting with the end of September phone calls to see ‘if the tradition still continues’.
I live in another province now, and continue to fly home for this very special tradition each year. My friends now bring their daughters and somehow my mothers house still holds all of us. What started out as a gathering of close to 15 (most of whom still attend) continues to grow each year; although the record is still 88, I think one day we’ll beat it!
Our first time as a family in Mexico and Gramma came too! Probably the only time we will get to travel together as the children have moved away and Gramma is staying close to home theses days. It was a special week together we will all cherish.
My most recent favorite holiday memory is when one of my children that lives 1500 miles away surprised me and came home for Christmas. Best memory that warms my heart and puts a big smile on my face ( a few tears of happiness too!)
My favourite holiday memory is going out with my sister and dad to the Christmas tree farm to find the most perfect Christmas tree to bring home. My mom would have hot chocolate waiting for us when we got back, and after we finished our drinks, we’d set up the tree and put all the decorations on it. After that we’d play board games. awww thanks for letting me reminise about old times Flight Centre! 🙂
My favourite holiday memory is waking up at 3am super excited to open my presents! My parents wouldn’t let us wake them up til 5am, but would leave our stockings outside our bedroom door (well Santa would leave them there of course). I was happy I had some stuff to play with while waiting to get up and tear open all the gifts!
My girl guide group got to be a part of our town’s Santa Claus parade!
Favourite holiday moment would be when we would gather all the kids together and all at once open presents. Everying just grab a present with their name on it and open…no need to pause to take picture or take turn….It’s chaos…but so fun.
Thuy
vision.nguyen [at] gmail [dot] com
My favorite holiday is memory is building a snowman with my dad in our backyard. It was really fun to be able to put a carrot for his nose and to put on a top hat for him too. It was great to be able to spend time with my dad as well.
My favorite holiday memory is preparing Christmas dinner for my family. Throughout the year, I try to look for great recipes so that the Christmas dinner will be amazing. I also test out the recipes and see which ones will work best. The best part is seeing their faces light up when they see the food on the table and even more so when they taste the food. It is really worthwhile when you see the people you love enjoying the food that you prepared! This year’s new additions to the Christmas dinner include a pumpkin cheesecake and sweet potato pie. I think they will be hits!
I would say that my favorite holiday memory is from 25 years ago when I took my daughter to Woodwards in Downtown Vancouver to see the Christmas displays. The displays were just amazing, creative and colorful. There were lots of twinkling lights in the displays which drew your attention immediately. You could walk among the displays which had animated characters including reindeer and Santa’s elves. There was even a phone where kids could listen to a message from Santa. My daughter would write a letter to Santa and she was able to drop it off at Santa’s mailbox. Lastly, she loved being able to take pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Terrific memories from a long time ago!
pacificus1 at yahoo dot com
My favorite holiday memory was from university when a group of friends and I decided to adopt a needy family for Christmas through a local organization. This particular family had two small children so we were able to buy some toys for them. I remember that it was fun shopping at the toy store! We also purchased some gift cards for a grocery store so that they could buy food for their Christmas dinner. We also filled up a hamper for them with cookies, chocolates, hot chocolate mixes and tea biscuits. The moment that stuck out the most was when we went to drop off the hamper and gifts for the family at their home I was able to meet the mother and her becoming emotional made me every emotional as well. It really made me realize how the holiday times can be difficult for families because I personally met a family in need. It was really nice to receive the thank you card that was hand drawn by the kids. This shows that we really can make a difference by lending a helping hand.
beakholders [at] gmail [dot] com
My favorite memory is watching classic holiday movies with my husband and son with the fireplace going in the background. We would watch films like Miracle on 34th Street, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Frosty the Snowman. In recent years, we have started to watch newer films like Elf and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I think some day in the future we will be watching 3D movies! Watching holiday movies together with the family makes the holiday experience even better.
My contact is polipokam (at) gmail (dot) com
We used to have a Christmas tree cutting party. We would invite other family members, friends and neighbors to go to the Christmas tree farm together. It was so much fun! The snow was so deep and cutting down the tree was hard work but rewarding later. My son had so much fun picking the tree that he wanted. This Christmas tree farm also served hot chocolate and cookies. We definitely felt more energy after all the hard work in cutting down the trees! Thinking about this reminds me of good times in the past! ***My email is icgnetvigator -at-gmail-dot-com
My fave holiday memory is when I was a very young girl and I woke up Christmas morning to see Santa’s hat in our driveway, with snow everywhere. Santa’s cookies were also eaten. It was so exciting as a young child!! Waking up to a winter wonderland was beautiful! My name is jen schulz, jenniferleanne@telus.net. Thank you!
When my son was young, we would take him to see the annual Santa Claus
Parade. We would sit on the edge of the road drinking with our hot
drinks and be in awe of the amazing parade floats and characters that
went by. It was just magical to see the smile and twinkle in his eyes
whe he saw Santa Claus coming. Everyone was cheering when they saw
Santa and Mrs. Claus waving at everyone. My son was extremely excited
and was shouting “SANTA! SANTA” at the top of his lungs. It was
beautiful to see the city having such a good time at the holiday
parade.
Thanks, Ling
lingg7081 (at) yahoo (dot) ca
Driving to a friends’ ski chalet on December 26th and getting stuck in Winter Wonderland of snowstorm ~
Debbie Horovitch
debbie at theSparkleAgency dot com
Being really little & waking up super early to find half eaten snack from a Santa visit along with one gift to tide me over until the main gift unwrapping…
J Bunning emanintdot[at]gmail[dot]com
My favourite holiday memory is when I was young sharing Christmas with my mom and brother, and enjoying playing songs on the piano, having a great dinner, and celebrating Jesus. steve s
sschulz@telus.net
My favourite holiday memory was the last Christmas I spent with my uncle who lost his battle with cancer this Sep. 19. He cooked up a Christmas feast (in addition to your traditional Christmas dinner of turkey, veggies and cranberry sauce there was lobster, crab, mussels, clams) and I stayed over until 6am laughing, joking, talking and eating.
My favourite memory was the year we celebrated Christmas at my Grandparent’s house. I must have been 5 or 6 years old. For a tree that year, we cut the top off one of the large pine trees they had in the yard, and I got to help bring it in and set it up. It was the first time I’d ever had a live Christmas tree, and a great memory of time spent outside with my father and grandfather.
Thanks for a great excuse to relive a happy memory.
alex.conde(at)gmail.com
Woooo!!!!!!! thanks!! 🙂