Every year, when I finally drag myself out to Christmas shop I have trouble reconciling the image of the Cratchits with the woman in line in front of me screaming into her cell phone while christmas tunes blare overhead. And, every year I think, "I'm not celebrating Christmas next year. Because, this is ridiculous."

Maybe I'm being overly cynical. Every year the bell ringers return and you start seeing the Toys for Tots commercials. Every store I've been into this year has had some sort of drive going on. Clothes or shoes or a million books for a million kids. And, No matter how many times I say it or how vehement my protests, I always end up celebrating Christmas. I still go to sleep on Christmas Eve with the tingle from childhood, knowing that tomorrow will bring surprises. I know I have a lot to be grateful for and I still want to let the people in my life know how special they are to me.

However, I do not feel that I am being too cynical when I say that the mercantile spirit overshadows most of all that is "the holidays". If we want to make life special, and I feel life is truly, truly special, to make a month of "specialness" is a mockery of that sentiment. And no amount of last-minute shopping will or should be able to express how you feel about the people in your life. I don't care what DeBeers says. Money doesn't buy happiness. It just buys things.