Elsie Porter and Ben Ross’s marriage certificate is symbolic of love. After Ben dies, Elsie is desperate for the document to arrive in the mail because she is determined to prove her and Ben’s love to others. This is particularly important to her because everyone from the police officers who attend Ben’s accident, to the funeral director who arranges his funeral, to his mother demands that Elsie show them the certificate to authenticate their marriage. There are few people “who can confirm” that they were married, which makes Elsie feel that everyone is questioning the reality of her romance with Ben (72). Every time the mail comes, she frantically races to the mailbox and sifts through her envelopes. This habit conveys her desperation to receive the document and prove to the world that she and Ben were in love.

The more time that passes without the marriage certificate’s arrival, the more Elsie begins to doubt her own romantic experience. Without the document, she can hardly remember or honor the nine days she was married to Ben. If she can’t prove they were married, she can’t call herself Ben’s wife and doesn’t feel justified in grieving Ben with such intensity.