"You are sure to be happy again." -Abraham Lincoln

Busy as he was, President Abraham Lincoln took the time to write this condolence note to the daughter of a dear friend of his, William McCullough, who died in battle. When Lincoln writes that “You are sure to be happy again…I’ve had experience enough,” he is no doubt remembering his mother’s death when he was 11, and less than a year ago, the death of his own beloved son, Willie.

Executive Mansion,
Washington, December 23, 1862.

Dear Fanny

It is with deep grief that I learn of the death of your kind and brave Father; and, especially, that it is affecting your young heart beyond what is common in such cases.

In this sad world of ours, sorrow comes to all; and, to the young, it comes with bitterest agony, because it takes them unawares. The older have learned to ever expect it.  I am anxious to afford some alleviation of your present distress.  Perfect relief is not possible, except with time.  You can not now realize that you will ever feel better.  Is not this so?  And yet it is a mistake.  You are sure to be happy again.  To know this, which is certainly true, will make you some less miserable now.  

I have had experience enough to know what I say; and you need only to believe it, to feel better at once.

Please present my kind regards to your afflicted mother.

Your sincere friend
A. Lincoln

From Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, edited by Roy P Basler et al.