If you know me, you know I love presents. Looove them. But my favorite childhood memories of the holidays revolve around the giving of presents, not the receiving (yeah, yeah, what a goody-goody.) Especially when my mom and I would go to the mall and pick an ornament off that huge tree. You know the one they have in the center of the mall? The ornament would have a family’s information on it, like the ages and genders of the kids, what sizes they wore, what they liked. And my mom and I would wander around the mall, buying toys and presents for these kids who otherwise might not get anything for Christmas. It was so fun to imagine a little girl getting a doll just like the one I played with, or wearing the cute outfit we picked out.

One year, in college, I had the idea that instead of buying presents for family and friends, I was going to to go a toy store, and spend a bunch of money on toys, and then I was going to bring them to the Toys for Tots drive that the Marines did. (Unfortunately, I did this too late in the season, and those toys ended up sitting in my trunk until about April, at which time I was able to find a place to donate them. Maybe I shouldn’t have included that touching memory in this. Hmmm.)

So what I’m saying here is that I love toy drives. And instead of asking me what the boys want for their birthday, or what they want for Christmas, let’s remember all the kids out there who might not be able to have the gift-filled holiday seasons we had in our youth.

And in doing so, let’s honor the memory of little Jack. Jack is a triplet, born just a few months before my boys. But sadly, he didn’t make it home with his sisters. He passed away on January 2. And in his memory, a toy drive is being organized for the kids who have to spend their holidays at the Children’s Hospital of New Jersey. The details are here, or you can just go to this wishlist and have the toys sent directly to the address on the wishlist.

And have fun picking out the toys!