A woman awakes during the night to find that her husband was 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. 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 twenty years ago when we were dating, and
you were only 16?" he asks solemnly.

"Yes, I do," she replies. The husband paused. 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 continued.

"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 twenty years?"

 

"I remember that, too" she replied softly.

He wiped another tear from his  cheek and said

"I would have been out of jail today and a free man!"