Relocate With Jen: All I Want For Christmas is a Pair of Socks... Why The Angel Tree Is My Favorite Holiday Charity.

Like many of you Christmas is my favorite Holiday of the year.  I love the looks on my daughter's faces when they see all the Christmas presents under the tree and when they are playing with the gifts that "Santa" brought.  I love spending time with family and friends and most of all the kindness and generosity that people seem to have in the few short weeks between Thanksgiving and the New Year.  But, it wasn't always that way:

Some would say I had a pretty tough childhood (I kind of did) but I think of most it as a blessing that I was able to learn on small and large scales how wonderfully generous and kind people can be throughout the year.  I was really fortunate that God put some incredible people in my path that cared for me in the hardest of those times. 

From as early as I can remember I celebrated Christmas at a church where "we" (the kids in the social services system) were all given our gifts together from Santa.  There were two Chrismas' that stand out to me the most.  One year my baby sister got a big wheels and that is what I had prayed she would get (I still believed in Santa at that point) and when I was 11 years old I got a pair of guess socks.  Yes, a pair of socks.  To this day it brings tears to my eyes when I think about it.  Not because all I got was a pair of socks, but because it was the first year I got something I really truly wanted.  That was the year my two sisters and I were put in foster homes.  When I was taken from my mom (April 19th 1984) I was only able to have the clothes I was wearing.  By Christmas I was in my 3rd foster home and had only acquired a small amount of clothing.  So when given the opportunity to fill out an Angel request all I wanted was clothes.  When I opened my box and not only got socks but got name brand socks I couldn't have been happier.

For the past several years our local Realtor Association has been collecting gifts for the Angel Tree and of course I participate.  This year when picked up my Angels I went through them trying to decide which ones I wanted to shop for.  I picked mine up a little late this year which meant that all the Angels left were for the older children.  By nature I think we all want to go out and buy cute, fun and exciting presents for the smallest of God's creatures.  Trust me, I'm the same way so it's great for me that I have my own little ones to shop for:)  As I was going through the stack this year it again brought tears to my eyes as I chatted with the young girl who coordinates the event.  Angel after Angel these kids were asking for things like sheets, school supplies, clocks and overall basic needs that most teens couldn't even fathom having to ask for as a Christmas gift.  I explained to the girl that these teens (15-18) were having to prepare for independent life.  Soon they would find themselves out of the system and in need of the basic essentials to live but most without families that will help provide that.  In a way it is sad, but in a way it is wonderful that these teens are planning ahead, being prepared for life ahead of them as adults.  I can only hope that my daughters will be so humble as to not have the expectations that I will provide for their every adult need but with the peace to know I will never let them go with out.

So this year for Christmas, I ask you when you see the Angel Tree to stop by pick up an Angel or two or three.  Remembering that as fun as it is to buy the little ones presents try to get a teenager too.  Many of them get left totally out of Christmas merely because no one picked up their Angel off the tree.  At the same time I want to thank the total strangers that made sure I had Christmas presents when I was a child and to those I know that made sure I had an awesome Christmas every year I was a teenager... You know who you are.   

Merry Christmas to ALL...

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