For some reason, I was thinking about this short story by O. Henry today. If haven’t read the story, it is available online. The story tells of a young married couple with very little money. They each want to buy a special gift for the other for Christmas. Della decides to sell her hair to get her husband a watch chain for his pocket watch. On Christmas Eve, Jim arrives home and discovers that his wife’s hair is very short. He gives her his gift, two beautiful combs for her hair. She in turn gives Jim her gift to find that he has sold his pocket watch to buy her the combs.
Each has sacrificed what they had to make the other happy.