A woman awakes during the night to find
that her husband is not in bed. She puts on her robe and goes downstairs to look for him. She finds him
sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee in front of him. He appears to be in
deep thought, just staring at the wall. She watches as he wipes a tear from his eye and
takes a sip of his coffee.
"What's the matter,
dear?", she whispers as she steps into the room, "Why are you down here at this
time of night?".
The husband looks up from
his coffee, "Do you remember 20 years ago when we were dating, and you were only
16?" he asks solemnly.
"Yes I do" she
replies.
The husband pauses. The
words are not coming easily. "Do you remember when your father caught us in the back
seat of my car having sex?"
"Yes, I
remember" says the wife, lowering herself into a chair beside him.
The husband continues.
"Do you remember when he shoved the shotgun in my face and said, either you marry my
daughter, or I'll send you to jail for 20 years?" Â
"I remember that
too" she replies softly. Â
He wipes another tear
from his cheek and says, "I would have gotten out
today".    Â
