The Reason Why It Took One Couple 9 Years to Open Wedding Gift

The Reason Why It Took One Couple 9 Years to Open Wedding Gift
Stock image of a wedding. (Kgorz/Pixabay)
Jack Phillips
5/21/2019
Updated:
6/18/2019

It took a Michigan couple about nine years to open a wedding present that was given to them by an aunt.

On the gift, there was a note attached that said, “Do Not Open Until 1st Disagreement,” ABC News reported.

“We’ve obviously had tons of disagreements, but didn’t want to turn to the box because once you open it, you don’t have it. And then what do you do?” Kathy Gunn told the outlet. “My husband and I are both very competitive people. We love a challenge. The presentation itself was very unique and it’s not the typical gift. We kind of set it aside because it was special to us.”

The 34-year-old said she and her husband, Brandon Gunn, had a large wedding with 300 people, receiving a number of gifts. Kathy’s great aunt, Alison, provided the gift and the note.

Two years after their marriage, Alison asked the couple if they had opened the box. They hadn’t.

“She looked at us like we were crazy,” she told ABC. “My mom was like, ‘Kathy what if there’s food in there or something?’ We did ask her [Aunt Alison] to make sure there wasn’t anything perishable in there or time-sensitive.”

Over the next nine years, they didn’t get into any major arguments, choosing to open the gifts when things really get out of hand.

But in May, nine years after their marriage, they finally wanted to figure out what was inside.

“I felt if we haven’t opened it yet, we’ve got everything we need to make this thing work,” Kathy said. “When you’re young and learning to be married and compromise and all of that, we often thought the contents of the box would reunite us. I think the true story was working it out for ourselves and there wasn’t any gift that was going to reunite us, or make it better. It was something that we were going to have to do ourselves.”

(Kathy Hocter Gunn / <a href="https://www.facebook.com/kathy.hoctergunn">Facebook</a>)
(Kathy Hocter Gunn / Facebook)
(Kathy Hocter Gunn / <a href="https://www.facebook.com/kathy.hoctergunn">Facebook</a>)
(Kathy Hocter Gunn / Facebook)
(Kathy Hocter Gunn / <a href="https://www.facebook.com/kathy.hoctergunn">Facebook</a>)
(Kathy Hocter Gunn / Facebook)

What was inside? About $200 in cash that was wrapped in notes for Kathy and Brandon.

Kathy’s note read, “Go get a pizza, shrimp or something you both like. Love, Aunt Alison”

Brandon’s note read, “Brandon, Go get flowers and a bottle of wine. Love, Aunt Alison.”

Kathy explained why the two kept the gift sealed.

“I honestly think that we both avoided turning to the box, because it would have symbolized our failure. To us, it would have meant that we didn’t have what it takes to make our marriage work – and we’re both too stubborn and determined for that. So, it forced us to reassess situations. Was it really time to open the box? What if this isn’t our worst fight? What if there’s a worse one ahead of us and we don’t have our box?!? As my Great Uncle Bill would say, ‘Nothing is ever so bad that it couldn’t get worse,'” she wrote, according to Newsner.
Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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