A husband and wife came for counseling after 20 years of marriage. When
asked what the problem was, the wife went into a passionate, painful tirade
listing every problem they had ever had in the 20 years they had been
married. She went on and on and on: neglect, lack of intimacy, emptiness,
loneliness feeling unloved and unlovable, an entire laundry list of unmet
needs she had endured over the course of their marriage. Finally, after
allowing this to go on for a sufficient length of time, the therapist got
up, walked around the desk and, after asking the wife to stand, embraced
and kissed her passionately as her husband watched with a raised eyebrow.
The woman shut up and quietly sat down as though in a daze. The therapist
turned to the husband and said, 'This is what your wife needs at least
three times a week. Can you do this?' The husband thought for a moment and
replied, 'Well, I can drop her off here on Mondays and Wednesdays, but on
Fridays, I fish.'