There is no solid evidence of physical consummation of Helen and Joseph Smith’s marriage, and later Utah practice suggests that it had no sexual dimension. Yet Helen soon came to realize that it was a marriage for time as well as eternity. She later described her “happy dreams [as] all o’er,” having a “sicken’d heart,” and “dayly” pining for her freedom and murmuring at her lot. However, within a year, Joseph Smith was killed. Now a widow of the prophet, Helen would be venerated for that reason till her death.