Do Men Remember Anniversaries?

A woman awakes during the night to find that her
husband was not in their bed.
She puts on her dressing gown and goes
downstairs to look for him.

She finds him sitting at the kitchen table with
a hot 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, 'I am just
remembering when we first met 20 years ago and started dating. You were
only 16. Do you remember back then?' he says solemnly.

The wife is touched to tears thinking that her
husband is so caring, so sensitive.
'Yes, I do' she replies.

The husband pauses. The words were not coming
easily.

'Do you remember when your father caught us in
the back seat of my car?'

'Yes, I remember!' said 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 will send you to jail for 20 years?'

'I remember that too' she replies softly.

He wipes another tear from his cheek and says...

'I would have been released today.'