May 6, 2025 - Good Morning! It’s Tuesday, May 6.
I love to read short stories, and my favorite short story writer is William Sydney Porter, known better by his pen name - O. Henry. Born in 1862 in North Carolina, O. Henry spent much of his life in Texas, living in Austin, San Antonio, and my hometown, Houston. He held many jobs - pharmacist, rancher, cook, draftsman, reporter, bank teller. That last one got him into trouble, and he served three years in prison for embezzlement. But, through all his adventures and careers, all his trials and tribulations, he continued to write.
O. Henry wrote more than 400 short stories, many of them featuring his signature technique - the surprise ending. Favorites include “The Ransom of Red Chief”, “The Cop and the Anthem”, “The Last Leaf”, and his classic, “The Gift of the Magi”. That lovely tale introduces us to a young couple, Della and Jim, just starting their life together and very poor. It’s Christmas Eve and Della discovers she only has $1.87 in change to get her husband a gift. She decides to go to a wig shop and sells her long, beautiful brown hair to buy Jim a gold chain for his watch. All the while, Jim sells the watch to buy Della a set of tortoiseshell combs for her beautiful brown hair.
On opening their gifts, the young couple is reminded that love, true love, is about sacrifice, is about putting the needs of others above our own needs. At Christmastime, at any time, as greed and selfishness seem to dominate our world, we remember the gifts that the Wise Men, the Magi, placed at the feet of the Christ Child. And we recall the words of I Peter 4:10 - “Each of you should use whatever gifts you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace.”
Meet you back here tomorrow,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
P.S. - O. Henry died in 1910 and was buried in Asheville, North Carolina. To this day, many of those who visit his grave leave $1.87 in change on his gravestone. The money is given to the local library. He would have liked that.
