“Pain and suffering are the soil of strength and courage.”- Anonymous

From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst:

September 19

Toward the end of the Civil War Emilie Helm, Mary Todd Lincoln’s sister, miraculously made it through Federal lines to visit her sister and brother-in-law in the White House. She had just buried her husband Ben, a Confederate officer, who had been killed at the Battle of Chickamauga. Lincoln said, ‘you know, little sister, I tried to have Ben come with us. I hope you do not feel any bitterness or that I am in any way to blame for this sorrow.’ No, she said, she didn’t blame him. Ben had been grateful for brother Lincoln’s offer, but he had to follow his conscience.

One can only imagine the depth of anguish of that visit.

                                                                                           

‘Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish; Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal.’

- Thomas More