Ulysses S. Grant is usually remembered as the commanding general who helped win the Civil War and later became the 18th President of the United States.

But there’s a much softer piece of Grant history.

When Grant met Julia Dent, the woman who would become his wife, he apparently knew he’d found his person. Julia was his college friend’s sister and considered rather plain by the standards of the day, while young Ulysses was reportedly quite handsome – but he adored her.

Julia had strabismus, a condition that caused one of her eyes to wander. She was self-conscious about it, particularly when photographs became increasingly common. Grant reportedly encouraged her to pose in profile so that the condition would be less noticeable.

Later in life an eye surgeon told her he could actually fix her eye. To that end, she eagerly packed her bags and made ready to undergo the operation. Grant, however, fearing it might turn out badly, wrote her this incredibly lovely note.

“Dear Julia, I don’t want to have your eyes fooled with. They are all right as they are. They look just as they did the very first time I ever saw them – the same eyes I looked into when I fell in love with you – the same eyes that looked up into mine and told me that my love was returned.”

She never went through with the operation.