solitude sunday

solitude sunday.  our day to spend time reading a book.

this morning i finished the lincoln volume.  the last few chapters highlighted life in the white house, the assassination, the death watch, the funerals across the nation as lincoln's body was taken home to springfield. interspersed was the plot to kill lincoln, the hunt for the assassin(s) and their executions.  the drama created by the alternate narratives was riveting.  i literally could not stop reading.  the saddest chapter of all was entitled aftermath.  the authors revealed life for the remaining lincoln family members, mrs lincoln and sons robert and tad.  tad died three years after the president.  mrs lincoln never recovered.  robert lived until 1926, having achieved a successful professional life. it's unknown whether robert's personal life, his interior life was likewise.