Angel Tree

 

‘Tis the season to be giving. A few weeks ago we were gorging while giving ‘thanks’ for our abundance and now it is time to give back. We save this time to the end of the year although it should happen all year round.

It starts out with family. You put up the tree and lights and wrap package and go to sleep and the next morning there are more presents and the cookies and milk are gone. Then you start giving presents to friends but that gets expensive so you settle on mailing cards.

This is the time of year when you are expected to be charitable. Just check your junk mail for all the requests for cash. It is the same as when there is a fire or natural disaster and others come to give food and blankets. There are those who care for their fellow human. I’m not one of them.

I’ve given gifts at the end of the year and have no memory of what they were or if they were appreciated. Giving a gift should reward the giver a sense of warmth and fulfillment. Giving a gift that is not appreciated is like handing a dollar to a street person as you step over them.

My favorite memories were the surprise gifts, like the diamond ring stuffed into a pair of socks.

Without the squeals of the little folk running about tearing up the paper high on sugar cookies, Christmas day is usually quiet. Without attending parties or family gatherings, I’ve made my own Christmas traditions.

One year, while shopping the now forgotten department store, we passed an Angel Tree. An Angle Tree (for those who don’t know) is when you plug a name of a tree with request to buy items on a list for a stranger. We went through the list and bought every item and more, then delivered them back to a desk for another person to present them as gifts to a smiling face. A face of a child who could not afford a Christmas present (for whatever reason) was getting a gift from a stranger? A child who could not afford Christmas getting a suit and tie? Would he wear it? Or sell it?

At the office there was always a secret Santa game to give something worthless to another person in the office who you don’t know. At our clubs and religious organizations we have decorated potluck suppers for the gathering and gift giving and feeling of camaraderie. There are those who will set up soup kitchens for the poor, but the next day they are back for more.

So now as you rush to get that latest gift and the stress of having everything ready for that magical moment on Saturday morning, the rest of us will do our quiet acts of kindness.

And the next day will be the 26.