There is a hereditary disease that stalks each member of my family. Even now I can feel it ticking maliciously through my bones, fully aware there is nothing I can do to stop it. Sooner or later it is going to strike.
In fact, the odds are heavy it will hammer home with jingling vengeance within the next five days. Which is the remaining shopping time till Christmas.
Yes, I -- and all children of my mother -- are wretched victims of Christmas Present Fever. Meaning that when it comes to gifts of the season, we can never purchase enough. A malady that remains curious to my Japanese wife even after 20-plus years of marriage.