Dolls and Anger
A man
and woman 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 shoe 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
shoe 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 dolls 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 doll."
The little old man
was so moved; he had to fight back tears. Only two precious dolls were
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 doll, but what about all of this money? Where
did it come from?"
"Oh," she said, "that's the money I made from
selling the dolls."