To The End

[471 words] I was looking at a display in a Civil War Museum when I noticed an old letter. A Confederate soldier wrote the letter to his wife in August 1864. He mentioned some interesting things about the war and the times, but what really impressed me was how he closed the letter. I expected to see “Affectionately yours” or “With love” just before his signature. These words are meaningful and they would certainly have been appropriate. But this soldier looked at his marriage in a way that is rare today. He closed the letter with these words: “Your husband until death.” These were not empty words. Miles away from his mate, he died of pneumonia in December of that year. How many married men see themselves as “husbands until death”? How many married women look at their husbands as lifelong mates? Marriage vows have traditionally included the words “till…