One of my favorite Christmas stories is O Henry’s The Gift of the Magi. It drips with sentimentality which is why I love it – just as I love watching It’s A Wonderful Life. The Gift of the Magi is the story of a young and very poor couple at Christmas time. For Christmas, Della buys her husband, Jim, a fob chain for his prized pocket watch. To afford the chain Della has her long, beautiful hair cut and sells it to a wig maker. Jim sells his prized pocket watch in order to buy the hair combs that Della has always longed for to decorate her hair. (more…)