A man and woman had been married for more than 60 years. They kept no secrets from each other except that the little old woman had a shoebox in the top of her closet. She had cautioned her husband never to open or ask her about it. For all of these years, he never thought about the shoebox, but one day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor said she would not recover.

As the husband was about 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 shoebox. 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 husband was so moved; he had to fight back tears. Only two precious dolls were in the shoebox. She had only been angry with him two times in all those years of living and loving. Full of gratitude, he asked, “Honey, that explains the dolls, but what about all of this money? Where did it come from?” “Oh,” the little old woman said, “That’s the money I made from selling the dolls.”  (Author unknown)

No doubt, marriage has its glorious and not so glorious times. But through it all, love forgives a multitude of sins, and love celebrates the awesome gift of being the beloved of another. Today take that moment to say, “I love you.” And if your spouse has passed on, know that his/her eternal soul still loves you, remembers you, and celebrates you more now than ever before!