What to give a couple on their wedding day can be a tough one – sure, you can give money, but some guests want to go with something a little more sweet and sentimental than impersonal cash.
Like this couple’s Great Aunt Alison, whose special gift remained unopened for nine whole years.
“On our wedding day, my husband Brandon and I received a gift from my Great Aunt Alison,” wife Kathy wrote on Facebook page Love What Matters.
“On the plain white box was a card that read, ‘Do not open until your 1st disagreement’. Now, there had obviously been plenty of disagreements, arguments and slammed doors throughout our nine years. There were even a couple of instances where we both considered giving up… but we never opened the box.”
According to the woman, the reason the box remained unopened is because they worried needing to use it would symbolise their failure. It forced them to reassess their fight each time and ask themselves, ‘Is this our worst fight ever? Is this the one that makes us need to open the box?’
And as each time they decided it wasn’t, it remained resolutely unopened.
“All along, we assumed that the contents of that box held the key to saving a marriage – an age old trick – unbeknownst to us rookies,” she wrote. “After all, my Great Aunt and Uncle had been married for nearly half a century. So, we thought the box would save ‘us’ – and in a way it did. That box went beyond what I believe my Great Aunt had intended. It was by far the greatest wedding gift of all.”
And finally, not because of a fight, but because they came to a precious realisation, the couple decided it was time to see what was inside.
“For nine years (and three moves) that box sat high on a shelf in various closets gathering dust, yet it somehow taught us about tolerance, understanding, compromise and patience,” she reflected. “Our marriage strengthened as we became best friends, partners, and teammates. Today, we decided to open that box, because I finally had a realisation. I realised that the tools for creating and maintaining a strong, healthy marriage were never within that box – they were within us.”
When they did open the box, it contained sweet notes ordering them both to order pizza, run a bath and share a bottle of wine, as well as wine glasses and some bath oils.
Well played Great Aunt Alison; your simple box of treats did SO much more than you probably could have ever imagined. Wonderful stuff!
