Remembering Anniversaries

A woman awakes during the night to find that her husband is not in
their bed. She puts on her robe 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 gotten
out today."