It had taken a couple of weeks of negotiation but Joe finally got the deal he wanted and drove out of the dealership in his brand new Explorer.

His wife Mary had been a little skeptical with his reasoning that the purchase was because their kids who were now 14 and 16 would be taking long trips with them in the car and they needed more room.  He knew she was on to him . . . his real motivation for buying a utility vehicle was because he loved to go four-wheeling on Saturdays with his friends and felt a little conspicuous when he was always doing the "riding" and never the driving.

Joe arrived home and ran into the house as excited as a nine-year-old boy with his first bicycle.  Mary was working at her computer as Joe came up behind her, gave her a big kiss on the cheek and said, "C'mon, c'mon, let's go!  Let's go for a ride."

They jumped into the Explorer and headed out of town.  After a few minutes, Joe pulled over to the side of the road and invited Mary to drive.  She got behind the wheel and found that she really enjoyed the sensation of sitting up so high with a great view of everything ahead of her.

Joe instructed, "Hang a left here"  and as Mary  followed his directions she found herself heading into the late afternoon sun.  To shield her eyes, she quickly reached up and pulled down the visor.  She felt something "plop" right into her lap and then roll onto the floor of the truck.  "What was that?" she exclaimed. 

"I don't know.  Better pull over and let's check it out".

Once they were pulled over on a side road, Mary found a little blue velvet box on the floor and looked over at Joe quizzically.  "What's this?"

Sporting a foolish grin, Joe just shrugged his shoulders.  Mary opened the box to find an alligator pendant with ruby chips for its eyes.  "Oh my gosh!  What's this all about?" she exclaimed with great pleasure.

"Well, honey, I just wanted to say thank you for your understanding about me buying this vehicle.  We could've lived without it, but you knew how much it meant to me.  You're a wonderful wife and I don't tell you often enough how much I appreciate you.  Thank you."

Mary leaned over to hug Joe and said, "You're the best Joe.  I'm just happy you're happy!"