I am home!  The good Lord has spared me to return 
to my sweet Elizabeth and Sidney.  There has 
never been so sweet a sight as seeing them beside 
the house when I came down the road.  Elizabeth 
must have been watching every traveler who passed 
down the road for some time.  When she first saw 
me, she wasn't sure who I was.  I am much thinner 
than I was when I left, and there's some white in 
my hair.  That, along with the long beard and 
ragged clothes threw her off a bit, but when I 
turned in the short road to the house she came 
running with little Sid close behind.  I 
dismounted and she nearly knocked me down when 
she flew into my arms.  I was filthy and tired, 
and have lice, but she didn't care.  Both of us 
were crying.  Little Sid was crying too, but it 
was because I was a stranger to him.  He's a 
little boy now, and this thin, ragged stranger 
in front of him was frightening. Elizabeth said 
to pay it no mind, he'll get used to me, but it 
sure was upsetting to me at the time.

I wanted to go to the creek to take a bath, but 
Elizabeth wouldn't hear of it.  I told her I was 
used to it, but she carried and heated water for 
me to take a bath in the kitchen in a wash-tub.  
It wasn't anything but the number three wash-tub 
she uses for scrubbing clothes, but it sure beat 
the creeks and rivers I've become used to!  Heaven 
is having a hot bath with your love scrubbing the 
layers of filth away.  I put my old razor to the 
stone and got it good and sharp, and after 
Elizabeth had cut away most of my beard and 
trimmed my hair, I shaved.  I probably should 
have burned my clothes, but I had Elizabeth to 
boil the dickens out of them to kill the lice.  
The butternut grey has been a part of me for a 
long time, and I guess it always will.  I kept 
the Yankee hat and coat I have also, but for now 
I'll keep them in the barn for a while to let the 
lice die out of them.

After I shaved and cleaned up, Little Sid was a 
bit more friendly.  He still doesn't know who I am, 
but time will cure that.  That night after Sid went
to bed, Elizabeth and I stayed up till nearly dawn.  
We've both changed. I've grown older than my years, 
and she's a mother and a full grown woman now instead 
of the young girl I left with a baby.  I guess it 
will take a while for us to get used to having each 
other around also!  I thought I was through with 
crying after all of the friends I lost and the hard 
times I saw, but every time I realize I'm home, tears 
flow again.  This time it's tears of joy.