Anticipation of a holiday without a friend or family member can be harder than the actual holiday itself.

Possibly he had taken an actual holiday.

For several years, some retailers, particularly big department stores, have begun seasonal markdowns far ahead the actual holiday.

So we've become resigned to spending the actual holiday apart although we also have our own celebration later in the month, just the two of us.

In the United States, it is more often used as a marketing tool than an actual holiday.

The activities that will take place on the actual holiday include film screenings, discussions, poetry slams and a candlelight procession.

A Thanksgiving dinner, a few weeks after the actual holiday, was cooked in the men's field kitchen on the rooftop of the Rex.

While the 1997 Christmas season was fairly good, most sales were rung up after the actual holiday.

That leaves your oven free for other things on the actual holiday.

And the St. Patrick's Day season - what else to call it when the celebrations start almost two weeks before the actual holiday?