Shannon here: Patricia Lee shares her parents’ real life romance, plus a chance to win a copy of her latest contemporary romance, Love Calls Her Home. Comment or answer the question at the end of any post dated Feb 13 – 16 to enter the drawing. Deadline: Feb 24th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Patricia:
People are often surprised when they discover my second novel, Love Calls Her Home, contains a military romance. To me, couples who find each other in the midst of war are the stuff of legends, since I grew up with the love story of my WWII soldier father and his military secretary wife—my mother.
The daughter of a carpenter, Mom enjoyed working beside her father, becoming as skilled at swinging a hammer as transcribing dictation, an occupation girls learned in the 30’s. Like a tomboy she could nail two-by-fours with the best of them, yet was able to pause long enough to repair a ripped hem or make a pan of spaghetti for five. My earliest memory is one of her on a ladder at my grandparents’ home, painting the siding while I fell into the fishpond, a sputtering five-year-old who thought I’d drown in two feet of water.
Mom graduated high school in 1940. The war in Europe was already making headlines, even though the United States had not yet been drawn into the fight. Young men here signed up for the draft, uncertain what their futures held.
Mom attended business college after high school and had almost completed the course of instruction when a friend asked her if she’d like to meet a guy who’d recently moved to town from nearby Portland. He was twenty-one, handsome, and a bit of a rogue. Though timid by nature, Mom said yes and that first blind date led to many more.
Not many months later Dad received his draft notice. Smitten by this girl to whom he’d been introduced, Dad asked if she’d wait for him. An independent spirit, Mom said no. She wasn’t interested in passing the time unattached, waiting for a man who might not come back, or who might lose interest in the girl he left behind. Dad got the message. They were married November 8, 1941 at the local courthouse, not quite thirty days ahead of Pearl Harbor.
Dad’s unit shipped to the East Coast and Mom followed him. Using her secretarial skills to find employment, Mom tracked Dad from assignment to assignment, traveling the East Coast working as office clerical staff for the Army. Their relationship grew strong in the wake of war and they used their time together to explore the eastern side of the United States. There they formed friendships with other couples that would last a lifetime. When Dad’s infantry unit shipped overseas to Europe, Mom came home, commendations from her superior officer in hand.
Mom and Dad were reunited when the war ended and went on to rear three children. After twenty eight years of marriage Dad contracted a strange illness and died at the age of forty-nine. Though she had opportunity, Mom never remarried, a testimony to her love for my father, devotion she carried to her grave.
About Patricia: Patricia Lee is a published author, having written since she first learned what words could do at the age of six. She holds a BA in journalism from the University of Oregon. Articles to her credit have appeared in Moody Monthly, Power for Living, Expecting and Focus on the Family’s Clubhouse as well as in two anthologies— Cup of Comfort Bible Promises and In the Company of Angels. She is part of a team of bloggers who submit short devotionals for FaithHappenings.com.
Patricia is a member of the Oregon Christian Writers and of American Christian Fiction Writers. She and her husband have two adult children and live in the Pacific Northwest with two sleepy cats. Learn more and connect:
Patricia’s Website Patricia’s Amazon Page Patricia’s Goodreads
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About the book – Love Calls Her Home:
Can a hurting boy help two broken people find their way back to love ?
Lissa Frye returns home from the Navy hoping to find a different future—one which includes a husband, marriage, and a family, until news from her sister impacts Lissa’s personal life and derails her plans.
Kurt McKintrick, having lost his best friend to an IED in Afghanistan, has returned to help the man’s mother run a horse rescue ranch. Images of war plague him, and thoughts of anyone else he might love falling victim to an untimely end, distance him from the person most likely to help.
Eleven-year-old Jayden Clarke seeks to fill the ache in his heart from his father’s death two years before. But his life is turned upside down when the rancher who befriended him is found dead, the horses neglected, and the dog missing. When authorities arrive to investigate, Lissa and Kurt, estranged after a former relationship, are forced to meet again. Lissa must confront images from her past and Kurt struggles to live with his present truth.
Will Jayden be the catalyst that draws Lissa and Kurt back together for a happily ever after?
Question for Readers: How many marriages can you think of that began as a war love story?
Come back Feb 16th for Patricia’s Excerpt!
Before my aunt and uncle were married, he was actually dating her sister, then he went off to war. She decided she didn’t want to have a long distance romance and sent him a “Dear John” letter. My aunt asked her if she cared if she wrote to him while he was gone. Having her sisters permission, she began writing to my uncle. When he returned, they married.
Can think of 5 in my family not counting friend’s marriages
My parents met before Daddy was drafted. Mama was too young to get married but she told him she would wait. Four and a half years later they got married a day or two after his return home. I was born ten months later. Daddy died of a massive heart attack at the age of 55. Mama never remarried and still lives on her own at the age of 92.