Secrets for a Happy Marriage
There was once a man and woman who had been married for more than sixty 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 shoebox 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 shoebox 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 in
the box. She had only been angry with him two times in all those years of living and
loving. 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."