TIME

The crucial difference between Christmas and a trip to the store

’TWAS THE NIGHT THE CORKSCREW WENT MISSING WHEN I realized I may no longer understand the true meaning of Christmas. At least when it comes to gift-giving, and what it is meant to accomplish.

On that particular Friday evening, I found myself with an unopened bottle of wine in my left hand and no corkscrew in my right. I ransacked kitchen drawers that hadn’t been opened in months to discover nothing but plastic straws, corn-on-the-cob holders and

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