“Love, Loss, and a Heart-Wrenching Choice: What Happens When a Man Faces the Unthinkable?”
Wait, That Was It?
In retrospect, the gift seemed pretty lackluster. The Gunns had waited nine years for a few wine glasses, a bath kit, and money. This whole time, the couple had expected it to be–well, more. But the contents of the gift weren’t what made it meaningful.
“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,” Kathy wrote on Facebook. Was it the key?
The Gift’s Meaning Had Evolved Since Then
It wasn’t the contents of the box that taught Kathy and Brandon about marriage; it was the fact that they avoided opening it. Brandon and Kathy learned to work through troubles themselves by not relying on the gift to solve their disagreements.
“That box went beyond what I believe my Great Aunt had intended,” Kathy wrote. “[It] high on a shelf in various closets gathering dust, yet it somehow taught us about tolerance, understanding, compromise, and patience.”
How The Box Helped Their Problems
By remaining unopened, Aunt Alison’s gift somehow helped the Gunns. In an interview with Today, Kathy described how she and Brandon’s struggles evolved. “First, you fight about picking up clothes off the floor, then later you fight about not getting sleep because of colicky babies.”
Each time they had a disagreement, Kathy and Brandon debated over whether to open the box. “We’d say, ‘We think this is a mountain, but maybe it’s a molehill,'” Kathy said.
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