Stephen

A woman wakes up at 2 a.m. and realizes her husband isn’t beside her in bed. She slips on her robe and heads downstairs to see what’s going on. She finds him sitting alone at the kitchen table with a mug of black coffee, staring at the wall like he’s watching an old movie in his mind. Every so often he dabs at his eye and lets out a long sigh. “Frank, honey, what on earth are you doing up at this hour?” she asks softly. “Is everything alright?” He looks up and says, “I was just thinking about when we first started dating 40 years ago… you were only 17.” “Do you remember those days?” She smiles warmly and pulls out a chair. “Of course I do.” “Do you remember when your daddy caught us parked out by Miller’s Lake?” he continues. “And how he tapped on my window with that old hunting rifle?” She chuckles nervously. “I remember.” “He told me I could either marry you,” Frank says, wiping another tear, “or spend 40 years in the state penitentiary.” She squeezes his hand. “Oh, sweetheart…” Frank takes a deep breath and says, “I’d have been a free man this morning.” 🤣🤣