“Setting healthy boundaries is a very important part of giving. It assures you’ll always have something left to give,” the book ends. “And so the tree was happy.

“Reading your ending to 'The Giving Tree' healed a little piece of me tonight!” commented one Instagram user. "Thank you for this − I always loathed the message in this book," another wrote.

Beyond books, Catholic Charities' Giving Tree supports efforts to provide housing, emergency shelter and direct services to more than 33,000 people and families every year. Latest U.S.

Since it was published back in 1964, Shel Silverstein’s “The Giving Tree” has imparted to its readers the idea of altruism: the importance of selfless love and the joy of giving selflessly.