Today, I want to share a story with you that a friend
recently shared on facebook. This
story that I am referring to is not a story about a heroic US soldier dying for
his country, nor is it a story about a grieving widow searching for
explanations about her husband’s death. These things are part of the story,
yes; but they are by no means the whole story. No. This is a story of love,
loyalty, and faithfulness to the nth degree. The beautiful love story of Billie
and Peggy Harris brings new meaning to the phrase “till death do us part.”
When Peggy
Harris received the news that her husband had been “missing in action” during
World War II, she was still a very young woman. No one in this world would have
blamed her if she had chosen to pursue marriage to another man. After all, she
was still young, and most would claim that she had the right to know love and
happiness and to have a family of her own. However, instead of pursuing that
worldly dream, Peggy Harris chose to hold out hope that her husband, 1st
Lt. Billie D. Harris, may
still be alive. So for over sixty years, Peggy searched for answers, for the
truth about what really happened to the love of her life all those years ago.
Today, Peggy
says simply, “Billie was married to me all of his life, and I choose to be
married to him all of my life.”[1] What love! What
faithfulness! That, my friends, is what marriage is all about. If marriage was
simply the answer to loneliness, I suspect Peggy would have remarried years
ago. No. When Peggy Harris stood at the marriage altar and vowed “till death do
us part,” she really meant it. So please join me as I say thank you to Mrs.
Billie D Harris for showing the world what true, sacrificial love is all about.
