With the holidays coming up, what was the best Christmas present you ever got as a child?

I remember Christmas when I was in the eighth grade. We had just moved and there was next to no money left for Christmas that year. My brother surprised me and got me a gift from the Western Auto (Remember that chain?). It was a one transistor radio kit put out by Heathkit. I assembled it and to my surprise, it worked!

I became intrigued by electricity and electronics and wanted to know how it worked. How could that little thing take a signal out of the air and turn it into sound into that earphone? I dove head first into studying electronics and knew that was what I wanted to do in life. (My father was kind of pissed off because he wanted me to go in construction. He saw me and my brothers as employees more than anything) I also knew I wanted to go to DeVry University (Formerly know as DeVry Institute of Technology). After my military service I did just that and got my degree in electronics engineering technology. I worked the field for a long time before getting into the education side and started teaching mathematics.

Imagine that, a little transistor radio kit changed and guided my life! Thanks brother.