This is my mom from 2009, Helen from WITH LOVE, WHEREVER YOU ARE. She was as lovely then as in her WW2 days. We convinced her to come live with us in Ohio, and to leave Hamilton, MO, her home with Frank, my dad, for 60 years or so. It wasn’t an easy battle with this feisty gal! But once committed, she never complained, but looked for new ways to share the Spirit that lived inside her and touched everyone she met. Those last 5 years were my best with my mom. I pumped her for war stories, never mentioning the stacks of letters secure in the Army trunk and untouched since 1945, letters she and Dad wrote as newlyweds on different war fronts, letters I wasn’t allowed to open until she joined Dad in heaven.
Tags: authors, books, daughters, family, fathers, fiction, history, home, letters, literature, memory, mothers, novels, storytelling, war, war nurses, War Romance, war stories, With Love Book, writing, WW2
Dandi's Blog 
September 19, 2017 at 11:09 am |
Dandi, Remembering your mom with great kindness. Always remember her helping out at your dads office. Always made us feel secure and at ease even if we were getting a shot !!!!!!! Have great memories of your mom, dad and Aunt Dot
September 19, 2017 at 11:12 am |
Thanks, Marvin–You’re a sweetheart to say so–but then you always were.
September 19, 2017 at 4:58 pm |
Hi, I just finished reading “With Love, Wherever You Are” and I loved it…I really felt that I was there with Helen and Frank. It’s the first book of your that I’ve ever read, but will surely read more. Would love to read another book about Helen and Frank and their life after the war. Thanks for a wonderful book. Alice Criag
September 19, 2017 at 6:22 pm |
Alice, thanks so much for taking the time to write me (and to read me!). Makes me feel good to know another person likes my parents. I’ve thought about writing another book about them–or writing my Aunt Dot’s amazing story. In the meantime, I’ve been writing books for children and teens. If you’d like to see more pictures of Helen and Frank and very young Dandi and Maureen, etc., I’ve posted some on my website: http://www.dandibooks/com/with-love-wherever-you-are
and other books: dandibooks.com. I have a number of little anecdotes and photos on my facebook page: Dandi Daley Mackall.
Again, many thanks! Dandi