Maybe it was the post. Maybe it was the Baileys in her coffee. Maybe it was the Giving Tree.

My last blog post was about the early arrival of the holidays and how my mom, aka "the love child of Martha Stewart and Scrooge", so desperately wished that twinkling lights and Christmas sales would postpone their appearance until after Thanksgiving. Fed up with the stress the holidays bring, which is common for so many good hosts, she often found herself resenting the early onset of Christmas carols and decorations instead of embracing them...

... then something happened...

Maybe it was the post. Maybe it was the baileys in her coffee. No matter what it was exactly, my mom oozed Rockette-like Christmas spirit this past weekend as we braved the stores, ignoring the neurotic pre-holiday shoppers and leisurely strolled from shop to shop, getting giddy at the sight of decorations and bargain buys (obviously, we decided to omit the whole kick line thing - I'm not as limber as I used to be) . As we shopped, she continued to impress me by not negatively commenting on the red and green hues that surrounded her and was eager to collaborate on gift ideas, but more importantly, her own red and green aura beamed brightly as we gently combed through the mall's "Giving Tree" and became two of Santa's vertically gifted elves. I wanted to share our experience to continue my recent holiday rant and hopefully inspire some of you to remember the reason for the season.

What's a Giving Tree? Most traditional malls have one. They are Christmas trees covered top to bottom in ornament-like tags that each represent a person in need with their Christmas wish-list attached. Most of the wishes are incredibly modest and range from clothes, gloves and toiletries. Some are from optimistic teenagers hoping for a Play Station or an iPod, and I read one from a 10 year old boy who wanted a puppy, making me realize that these hanging tags were more than Christmas lists on paper, they were people far less fortunate than me putting their dreams on a string, hoping that someone would remember them this holiday season. The young children on this tree probably gave up on Santa years ago and now here I stood determining which lucky one I would choose; however, our family has a tradition that we like to follow - we like to pick all older people because it seems that everyone favors babies and young children and seem to forget that adults have worthy wishes that should be fulfilled too.

So after sorting through the many branches, we chose:

• Emma, an 88 year old woman wishing for any kind of clothing
• Mac, a 63 year old man who wanted a sweater
• Sarah, a 60 something year old woman who wanted a non-stick baking sheet
• Justin, a 19 year old, who unlike his many electronic wishing counterparts, asked for towels and a blanket

As we ventured into stores, putting thought into each gift, I realized how lucky I was to not to have my wishes hanging from the Giving Tree. I will never have a stranger look at my name, my age and my wish list, and then move onto the next branch because I wasn't five years old asking for a doll. Would someone read my wish list and be kind enough to get something for a 23 year old female?

Now, I know I'll soon be instructed to carve butter sticks into Christmas trees and fold napkins into Nativity scenes to alleviate my mom's Martha Stewart Syndrome and even have to face a "bah-humbug" comment or two at the 11th hour before our holiday guests arrive, but no matter what, I know I would not want to be any other place during the holidays than in my home with my Family Tree instead of waiting alone, patiently on a Giving Tree.

So, appreciate your family and friends as the twinkling lights begin to shine, find something exciting to do each day to remind you that this time of year is special and should be savored, and remember to take some time to make the holiday special for someone who has to depend on those more fortunate than them to make one of their wishes come true.