Denise recently discussed in an interview her holiday traditions...

When I was a little girl, Christmas was really special for us. It was a time when families got together. It wasn't just about shopping and gifts to us, family was really important.

We had some rituals. First we got our Christmas tree. My dad was the one who was in charge of getting the tree to our home. Then it was the fish. In Czech, we eat Karp for Christmas dinner. As kids we went with our parents to the market, and there was a huge tank in the middle and a line of people waiting to get their fish.

It was also a place where neighbors would meet and mingle about their "Christmas" preparations. There were Karps of different sizes in the tank and we kids would "pet" them and choose which one we wanted. Once we as a family decided which one we wanted, they fished him out for us and you could either take him home and kill him yourself or there was a butcher standing by and he'd kill him right then and there. I know, it sounds drastic, but that is the tradition and that is the way it is even now.

Also there is mom's baking where I would be the number one assistant. It took us whole day just to make sweets of all kinds of shapes and sizes for our Christmas table. Ok, I'll stop now, there is much more to it, but the point I'm trying to make here, is, that it is a FAMILY holiday. We spent time together, make things together, learn from each other and we grow stronger together. Running around shopping malls, fighting traffic, spending time looking for parking, getting frustrated if you have the right gifts, well, this was not an issue. Of course we as kids got gifts under the Christmas tree, but the main gift was that we grew up in a great family with great parents who teach us value of real happiness and taught us lessons you can never learn in schools.

I guess I talk about family and family values here a lot, and yes, I'm very fortunate that I have a great family. But I also realize that not everyone is so fortunate, not everyone have a great family. A lot of people also loose their family through fights, sickness or age. Please, if you feel like you don't have a family, find a new one! A friend who cares about you as much as you care about him or her.

So this is the end of 2008. What does it mean? For some, it means nothing, just another night, another sunset, another reason to drink and party. For some it means a lot. You evaluate things you've done up until this point in your life, you look back at the year and think, maaaaan, this was fast, I can't believe that it is another New Year Celebration just a few days ahead of us.