Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States

Messages of Love

Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States. He was married to the love of his life,
Bess, for 53 years.  Their relationship is a beautiful story of love.

Harry and Bess knew one another as children in Independence, Missouri.  Harry claimed that it was
love at first sight.  He was six-years-old at the time.  "I saw a beautiful curly haired girl
there," Truman would later recall.  "I thought (and still think) she was the most beautiful girl I
ever saw.  She had tanned skin, blond hair, golden as sunshine, and the most beautiful eyes I've
ever seen or ever will see."

Bess and Harry attended the same school from the fifth grade up until their graduation from high
school in 1901, reports Megan Gambino.  During that time, she largely snubbed his advances, except
for the "big days," as Truman called them, when she let him carry her books.  After high school,
Harry moved away and worked on his family's farm.

In 1910, Harry visited some cousins in Independence.  His aunt asked him to return an empty cake
dish to her neighbor.  Her neighbor was Bess' mother.  When Truman knocked, Bess answered the door. 
That's when the relationship began to take off.

Harry would travel to visit Bess whenever he could, but beginning December 10, 1910, he wrote his
first of many letters to Bess.  Gambino reports that in one of those letters, dated June 22, 1911,
Truman rather impetuously asked for Bess' hand in marriage.  Writing about a drought that Missouri
was suffering, he wrote, "Water and potatoes will soon be as much of a luxury as pineapples and
diamonds."  That was quickly followed by, "Speaking of diamonds would you wear a solitaire one on
your left hand should I get it?"  Bess did not respond for several weeks but finally denied his
first proposal.  But just a little over two years later, Bess accepted his proposal and the couple
became engaged in November 1913.

They were married on June 28, 1919 in Independence, Missouri.

But Harry didn't stop writing letters to Bess.

For over 50 years, beginning in 1910, Harry wrote 1,300 letters to Bess.  "He wrote to Bess a lot
when he traveled.  If he was away from her for any time more than a day or two, he would often
write," says Tammy Williams, an archivist at the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum.

Think about this: Every day he was away, the President of the United States took time out from his
dealing with the world's most powerful leaders to sit down and write a letter to his wife.  It was
an expression of his deep love for her.

Now consider the fact that the Greatest Power on High has written a book of letters to you and to
me.  In the Bible, we have a collection of stories, laws, poetry, prophecies, and much more.  But
through it all, God's Word informs us of His great love for us.

It's not that we deserve His love; we have rebelled against Him in our sin.

But He loves us anyway.  He loves us so much that He gave His Son to die on the cross for our sins
so that we can be reconciled to Him and live with Him for an eternity (John 3:16; Romans 5:6-10).

In His Word, He informs us that He will save and give the gift of eternal life to those who place
their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31),
confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the
forgiveness of their sins (Acts 2:38).  He has promised to continue to cleanse from sin those who
continue to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7).

God sent His Word to us because He doesn't want us to be separated from Him.  He even sent His Son
to die for us so that we can be reunited with Him.

Won't YOU heed His Word and accept His offer on His terms?

-- David A. Sargent

* Information gleaned from "Harry Truman's Adorable Love 'List' to His Wife, Bess" by Megan Gambino,
February 12, 2013,  www.smithsonian.com