[Further, in the Cogdal quote, I note that Lincoln used the past tense when talking about his former love -- "I DID honestly-- & truly love... Not "I continue to love", and "think often," not DREAM or WISH for her. Does that make sense? ]// quote
Laurie, it makes perfect sense. He might have loved AR, but in Lincoln's own words during the White House years:
"My wife is as handsome as when she was a girl, and I, a poor nobody then, fell in love with her then. And what is more, I have never fallen out.
(quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln from C.E.L. of the Christian Monitor, Sept 7, 1872)