When Brandon and Kathy Gunn of Northville, Michigan got married in 2007, they received one mysterious wedding gift from Brandon’s Great-Aunt Alison. The couple had a large wedding with more than 300 guests, so there were a lot of gifts, but this one gift was a white box that really stood out to the couple. It was so intriguing because it had a special note attached to the top of the box that read, “Do Not Open Until 1st Disagreement.” I can tell you that I’m an incredibly curious person, and I’d probably have been inclined to start an argument just so I could open that gift. However, apparently Brandon and Kathy are patient souls, and though they had plenty of disagreements, they were hesitant to open the box.
Kathy told ABC News that both she and Brandon are competitive people and they love a challenge and the gift was special to them because it wasn’t a typical gift. They set it aside because it meant so much to them. When they had been married for two years, Aunt Alison asked them if they had opened the gift yet, and they told her no. She looked at them as if they were nuts, Kathy said. She recalls her mom asking, “What if there’s food or something in it?” When asked that, Kathy did end up asking Aunt Alison if there was anything that could spoil inside the gift, and Aunt Alison assured her that there was not.
Kathy and Brandon decided together to wait until they were “at their worst” to open the gift, and that ended up being nine years and two kids later. On May 29th, they decided to open up the box to discover what was inside. Kathy said that waiting so long to open it was very reassuring to both her and Brandon. They figured if they’ve gone nine years without opening the box, they may actually have what it takes to make a marriage work. She said that when they were young and learning to be married and compromise, they often thought that the contents of the box could help to reunite them if they ever ran into trouble.
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So what ended up being inside the box? There were two cash gifts totaling $200. Each gift was wrapped in notes, one note for Brandon and one note for Kathy. 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.” The pair immediately called their aunt to share the news that they had finally opened their gift. Aunt Alison thought it was amazing, Kathy says. She says that their aunt never realized just how special the gift would become to the young couple. When Kathy shared the story on Facebook’s Love What Matters page, it went viral, receiving more than 24,000 likes, over a thousand comments, and more than 4,000 shares.
All images via Facebook
