Never Angry

in 60 Years

 

 

 

There was once a man and woman who had been married
for more than 60 years. They had shared everything.
They had talked about everything. They had kept no secrets
from each other except that the little old woman
had a box in the top of her closet that she had
cautioned her husband never to open or ask her about.

For all of these years, he had never thought about the box,
but one day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor
said she would not recover. In trying to sort out their affairs,
the little old man took down the box and took it to
his wife's bedside. She agreed that it was time that he
should know what was in the box.

When he opened it, he found two crocheted doilies and a stack
of money totaling $25,000. He asked her about the contents.

"When we were to be married," she said, "my grandmother
told me the secret of a happy marriage was to never argue.
She told me that if I ever got angry with you,
I should just keep quiet and crochet a doily."

The little old man was so moved; he had to fight back tears.
Only two precious doilies were in the box.
She had only been angry with him two times in all those years.
He almost burst with happiness.

"Honey," he said, "that explains the doilies,
but what about all of this money?
Where did it come from?"

 

 

"Oh," she said, "that's the money I made from selling the doilies.