A husband and wife are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary with their two adult sons, who are both themselves divorced.
On the occasion of the wedding anniversary, the father decides to repeat his lesson to his children for the millionth time:
“You see, sons, the secret to a long marriage is that you go to a restaurant two times a week, every week, without fail. Eat by candlelight, have a lovely dinner, play some soft music, and go dancing. You must treat yourselves like this every week, do you understand?”
In response, one of the divorced adult sons says:
“Father, I don’t understand. I followed your advice to a tee. My wife and I went to dinner together every Tuesday and again every Thursday, just as you told us to. And yet, I couldn’t stay married for more than eighteen months.”
The other son chimes in:
“Father, I too do not understand. My wife and I went to dinner together every Tuesday and again every Thursday, just as you told us to. And yet we were divorced just 6 months after our wedding day.”
The father turns to his sons and shakes his head:
“My boys, you misunderstood, and this is why your marriages failed.”
The sons looked at one another and then back at the father, confused as ever.
“You see, the key to this is that she goes on Tuesdays; you go on Thursdays.”
