The Gift of the Magi is the story of Mr. and Mrs. James Dillingham Young, otherwise known as Jim and Della. It is Christmas Eve and all the money that Della has scrimped and saved for Jim's gift totals one dollar and eight-seven cents.

The Young's are very poor, living in a shabby apartment. Their salary has recently shrunken from $30 a week to $20 a week. Della has humiliated herself by haggling at the shops and managed to scrimp away 60 cents of the $1.87 in pennies.

 

Della has a fit of self-pity as she tries to determine how to buy Jim a worthy gift when suddenly she jumps up and views herself in the mirror. She lets down her glorious hair; hair that is the pride and joy of both Della and Jim.  Della and Jim have two possessions that are the treasures of the household, Della's hair and Jim's watch, which is an inheritance from his grandfather. To them these are treasures of which King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba would be jealous, despite their own immense wealth.

Quickly, before she loses her nerve, Della leaves the house and sells her hair to Mne. Sofronie for $20. Then she races around town looking for the perfect gift. She finds it in a platinum watch chain, for which she pays $21. She hurries home and suddenly realizes what she has done. Della prepares supper and tries to fix her hair so that Jim will not be too upset by her appearance.

When Jim comes home, his response is none of the responses that Della had anticipated. He seems dumbstruck but Della cannot figure out why. Finally, after assuring her that he loves her no matter what, Jim gives her the gift he bought for her. It is a pair of tortoise shell combs that Della has long coveted. Della is thrilled but her joy is quickly followed by sorrow as she realizes she has no hair to wear the combs in. She resolves her feelings by telling Jim that her hair grows fast.

Each of us may celebrate our holidays in different ways and with different traditions, but we can all understand that the greatest ‘gift' we can give anyone is the love and kindness within ourselves.

May your Christmas season be filled with love and kindness, for you and for those you love.