The next 48 hours will be filled with family dinners, the sharing of gifts and fellowship, church, maybe a Christmas Day movie and all of the other joys unique to families celebrating Christmas in America.

The shopping frenzy will end. Stores and businesses will close. Entire familes will go off the grid and connect the old-fashioned way; face-to-face.

It truly is the most wonderful time of the year.

It may be my imagination or it may just be wishful thinking but I think people are putting a little more stock in family time this year and a little less stock into what their stockings will be filled with.

The events in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14th saddened an entire nation. Many were brought to tears as the images of young lives lost flickered across our TV screens, our laptops and our phones.

Many of us asked "why?" Unfortunately the question comes with no easy answer.

But, there is a response that although personal can have an affect on everyone you meet and in turn make the world a little more respectful this Christmas season.

Again it may be my imangination, but people seem to be holding doors a few seconds longer.

They seem to be willing to particpate in a growing nationwide trend to commit 26 random acts of kindness as was first suggested by Ann Curry of NBC News.

Complete strangers are actually making eye contact with one another and saying "thank you".

Could it be, the 20 children from Sandy Hook Elementary School are making us all re-evaluate the way we treat one another?

Wouldn't that be a wonderful gift?

I for one am more thankful for family this Christmas. Again, realizing there are 26 families that will have empty place at the table Tuesday and many unopened gifts still under the Christmas tree Wednesday morning, makes it pretty darn satisfying to know the best gift I'll get will be the joy of watching my family gathered around the tree.

There will be no Lexus with a red bow on the roof parked in our driveway. We're not jetting off to Lake Tahoe to ski or Hawaii to surf, but we'll all be together and not every family can say that this Christmas.

The Maetzold family has been blessed. Blessed with the gift of being able to smile through adversity no matter how many punches are thrown our way.

Our family get togethers reflect that.

We all truly want to be around one another and do what we can to stretch the time we spend together longer rather than shorter.

There is no, "here's your gift, I gotta go." Rather it's a day long process which involves people being more exicted about what they're giving that what they're getting.

Over the years we've endured job loss, personal injury, the betrayal of close friends and now the uncertainty of an NHL labor stalement which has a direct impact on our family.

Through it all our Christmasses together are legendary.

Is it the adversity that makes us stronger? Or is it the strong family that makes the adversity more tolerable?

Whatever it is, our issues pale in comparison to the tragedy gripping the families of Newtown this Christmas season.

My hope is their community pulls together like a family to help everyone find every a sliver of joy this week.

The nation seems to be a hint more respectful as Christmas approaches. It's a shame it took a tragedy to bring out a renewed sense of compassion.

Let's hope that like a good winter snow, it'll stick for a good long time.