Oh, the joys of Christmas: lights twinkling their message of cheer, carols filling the air and lifting our spirits, tables groaning with their burdens of candies and pies soon to be devoured. And then there's the shopping. When I was a boy, Christmas shopping began the first day of December, but then the stores began to decorate for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving, and now–many years later–some stores begin their decorating in mid-September.

For many of us, however, this end-of-the-year holiday brings more than just merriment,