A Sale–WITH LOVE, WHEREVER YOU ARE

Since my publisher, Tyndale House, selected WITH LOVE, WHEREVER YOU ARE as their August promotional, I’ve been posting about this novel, the story of my parents, who served overseas in WW2 as Army Dr. and Army nurse. They met in training, fell in love, and married after a couple of weeks. For the remainder of the war, with Mom in England, then France and Dad ending up in a mobile unit pushing into Germany, they wrote each other 2-3 times a day. Those letters (over 600 of them preserved in an Army trunk, unknown to me), along with their stories, formed the basis for my novel. Tomorrow is the last day of the promo, the last chance to get the e-book of WITH LOVE, WHEREVER YOU ARE, for $2.99. Sept. 1, the price goes back to $9.99.

Thanks for reminiscing with me!

 

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WITH LOVE–IN WARTIME MARSEILLES

This is one of my favorite pictures of my mom and dad, Lt. Nurse Helen Eberhart Daley, and Captain Dr. Frank R. Daley. If you’ve read WITH LOVE WHEREVER YOU ARE, maybe you remember their rare and romantic getaway in Marseilles, underneath the barn of a French Resistance farmer. Some days young Frank and Helen believed the war would end that very week, and other days they wrote that it felt like the war would never end.

I’m so thankful for the emails and letters I’ve received from sons and daughters of WW2 parents. We all honor our heroes in different ways and still feel a connection.

This month, the e-book of WITH LOVE is on sale everywhere for $2.99. I’m using the sale as an excuse to reminisce.

WITH LOVE, WHEREVER YOU ARE

Believe it or not, this wedding-cake topper dates back to August 4, 1944, the anniversary of Helen and Frank Daley, my parents. Actually, the wedding dress should be an Army uniform too. I’ll be posting (and re-posting) a few pictures in August because my publisher has selected WITH LOVE, WHEREVER YOU ARE for their August promotional, offering the e-book version for $2.99.

I’ve written a lot of books, and I’ve been grateful for each opportunity to tell or create stories. But in the back of my mind was this story of my parents’ experiences as Army doctor and nurse in WW2. For a couple of decades, I’d been writing down stories I grew up on, amazing stories full of details of the war and how my parents met in boot camp, married, then had nothing to keep them together but their letters, since they both served overseas in different countries. Until my dad died, I had no idea that they’d managed to keep every one of those 600+ letters. I inherited that treasure, packed inside an old Army trunk in the attic. Eventually, I was able to blend the letters, stories, and research into WITH LOVE, WHEREVER YOU ARE.

 

WITH LOVE, ON VALENTINE’S DAY

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I like to imagine that these two photos were snapped on Valentine’s Day, but I really have no idea. At least, thanks in part to the letters they wrote each other during their service in WW2, I know that Helen and Frank were deeply in love when these pictures were taken. They were newlyweds, separated for months at a time, with only their letters and prayers to keep them together and in love. My parents remained deeply in love for the 52 years of their marriage. This is the last day to purchase the e-book of their story, WITH LOVE, WHEREVER YOU ARE, at the sale price, $2.99.  But don’t go away. I have more photos to share.

WITH LOVE, IN MARSEILLES

During their service in WW2, Lt. Helen Daley and Lt./Capt. Frank R. Daley miraculously arranged a few short rendezvouses. This one is in the book–Marseilles, France, in Southern France, on the Mediterranean. On the back of the photo, Mom (Helen) has written: “Marseilles. We climbed all of the church’s steps this day!” It would be great to have a clearer photo of the view of the city, the seascape, and landscape. But it’s pretty clear to me that Helen and Frank only had eyes for each other.

WHOEVER YOU ARE, WITH LOVE

Not far from Paris, the seaside village of Deauville has long been considered the “Queen of the Norman Beaches.” During WW2, the German army occupied Deauville and Normandy. German forces took over villas, hotels, and even the casino until D-Day, when the Allies forced the German troops out of Normandy and Deauville. My mom, Lt. Helen Eberhart is standing next to a woman I don’t recognize, but who, on the back of the photo is called “Susan.” Nurse Helen worked with many nurses not mentioned in WITH LOVE, WHEREVER YOU ARE, women who cared for their patients in such difficult circumstances. When I look at this picture, taken in 1944, I hope these two brave women are on a break, enjoying a walk by the sea. I’m sure they deserve it.

 

SALE: WITH LOVE, WHEREVER YOU ARE– $2.99 for 2 weeks, the e-book everywhere

This is the day I’ve been building up to in these posts. Thanks for sticking with me this far. For the 2 weeks of the sale, I’ll be posting more war photos and hoping you’re not tired of me. . . or of my parents’ story.

WITH LOVE, FRANK’S PHOTOS

My last post showed a picture Helen sent to Frank. On the back of that photo, Helen wrote: “Don’t miss the background–someone always close.” The background showed her pictures of Frank. I wish this photo were clearer, but it’s evident that Frank had the same idea. On the back of this photo, he wrote: “my writing table.” The last years of Mom’s life, first in Missouri, then in Ohio with us, on her dresser she had pictures of Frank. And on the window ledge beside her bed sat their wedding picture, the framed photo above, on the right, the couple in their Army uniforms on their wedding day. It was the last thing she saw every night. I’m looking at it now, as it’s on the wall just to the right of my computer screen.  What special pictures do you keep close?

WITH LOVE…LETTERS & PHOTOS

Young Helen and Frank met in basic Army training during WW2. They only knew each other for a few weeks before getting married and then being shipped overseas to the front lines–to different fronts, different countries. For months at a time, all they had to keep their marriage together were 3 things: Love letters (They wrote 2-3 times a day, every day.); prayers; and photos, like the ones you see in the background beside Helen’s bunk. Helen’s bracelet was a gift from Frank. In one of his letters, he mentions that one of the German prisoners was making bracelets out of foreign coins for men to send home to their wives. Frank collected coins from every city where he and his wife pulled off a rendezvous. And now, I have that bracelet.

WITH LOVE…WHEREVER YOU’RE GOING

Lt. Frank on a German Freight Train

My last post was of Mom (Helen) in her helmet, so I needed to post this one of Dad (Frank) in his. He hated to cover his curly black hair, but he definitely needed to wear his helmet. Here, he’s on a “captured” German train that had carried prisoners to concentration camps. He and a few other doctors are heading to Alsace-Lorraine, and then he’ll move into German battlefields. In case you’re wondering what’s with that odd expression, the only words on back of the photo are: “I’m sucking on a piece of hard candy.”