One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. - opening lines to The Gift of the Magi by O'Henry

The Gift of the Magi by O'Henry is one of my favorite Christmas stories.

A beautiful story that teaches a lesson in gift-giving and sacrifice. The newly married couple desperately want to give each other a secret Christmas gift that each sells the one thing they hold most dear. Della sells her hair in order to buy Jim a fob chain for his watch and he sells his watch to buy Della a set of combs for her beautiful hair.

Here is the the end scene from the film I watched when I was just a girl. Hmmm, no wonder I'm a romance writer....



If you want to read the short story you can copy the link below into you web browser...

http://www.online-literature.com/o_henry/1014/

and remember as O'Henry writes... two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest.