I have two gifts that stand out as favorites over the course of my life time. The first was a doll given to me by my father. At the time, I believed the doll to have come from Father Christmas, whom I longed to glimpse for myself. My father had constructed a ‘Father Christmas’ detector out of an old watch and a bell that jingled whenever Father Christmas was in the vicinity. He said it was to make certain I didn’t stumble upon the old man by accident and...