One Christmas when I was about 7 years old, I was expecting a Tonka toy. I was so excited. That was back in 1975, when Tonka was in. There was no Nintendo, Madden or Halo. A simple rugged steel yellow truck that didn't do anything except roll was all we wished for. The rest was up to our imagination.

But to my surprise and my dismay, I received a pair of Hush Puppies and a pair of tube socks. I almost cried. In fact I think I did.

I remember looking over to my mom and she almost cried as she looked at the sadness and disappointment in my eyes. Money was not exactly flowing around the Gallegos household — I was the youngest of seven children, and my dad was on disability.

As a child, I didn't understand the concept of money. All I looked at was the standard that I would see on television. On television, kids get what they want when they want it.

At the time, I didn't realize that that pair of shoes and socks was all that my parents could give me. There were more pressing needs. They probably thought it was something I could use for school. And although I didn't get what I wanted at least I had a present to open.

Christmas at our home was as simple as they come. And I'm sure many Hispanics at the time and even now can relate. I don't remember many turkeys or eggnog at Christmas Eve dinner. We celebrated with beans from the pressure cooker and milk from a Jersey cow we had. But what we lacked in luxuries, we gained in peace. The peace came in our souls. It was a spirituality that is very difficult to explain.

My parents would always remind us that there were people worse off than we were. My mom, for example, never had memories of her mother, who died when my mom was 2. But my mom never cried about it. She didn't have time to shed tears. She was too busy worrying about and caring for her children.

She would make sure we all went to church to pray and thank God for our existence. She would even allow me to wear my Hush Puppies to Mass.

Do any of us really appreciate the little things we have? So what if we don't get the SUV or diamond ring this Christmas? We should put our focus on what we already have and pray for our humanity instead of for the lottery.

It would be great for every kid out there to get the nicest toys at the mall this Christmas. But the reality is that many kids have never seen a mall. And that's OK. Many parents out there could use that money for more important things, like food and heat.

Christmas is such a joyous time if we know the true meaning of it. It's too bad that here in America we concentrate more on the material side of it rather than the spiritual aspect.

I didn't get my Tonka truck back in the mid-'70s, but I look back and think how lucky I really was. I didn't realize it at the time, but back then I didn't need Dec. 25 to receive presents.

Those tube socks went a long way — not only on my feet, but in my heart.

Jesse Gallegos is Public Relations Director at Luna Community College. He also writes a column for The Las Vegas Times, a weekly paper in Las Vegas. If you have any ideas you would like to share with Jesse contact him at 505-429-2507.