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My Grandparents’ WWII Love Story by Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy
She was a widow with four children, ages sixteen to three, struggling to make ends meet after losing her husband in 1943. Edna Neely had grown up in a fine house, with a fur coat, and her own car at 16 but her world crashed when the stock market did. Everything was liquidated to pay her father’s debts when the banks failed.
He was a farmer, older than the average soldier, and the “kids” serving in his unit called him Pop. Until he joined the Army, because he didn’t wait to be drafted, Claude Roberts lived near the small farming community of Fillmore, Missouri. Fillmore has fat farmland; fertile fields raise some of the state’s finest corn and soybeans. Surrounding farms produce cattle and hogs for the livestock market. In my grandfather’s day, nearby St. Joseph, MO still ranked as the third largest packing site in the nation. He came from a large family but my grandmother was an only child.
After she married, my grandmother found a lifelong best friend in neighbor Margie Violett. The two young woman both had young children at home. They bonded over recipes, shared neighborhood gossip, and the age-old effort to understand the men they married.
After my grandmother was widowed, she joined the war effort. She volunteered her time at a local USO canteen and even though she hadn’t planned to find another husband, she was soon dating young men stationed at Rosecrans Field, an Army Air Corps based nearby. More than one proposed marriage but she declined, satisfied with her children and life.
Several of her cousins were away serving in the war and she wrote letters to each of them. When Margie suggested she add her Uncle Claude to her pen pal list, she did. Edna and Claude wrote numerous letters. She detailed her everyday life on the home front and he shared what he could of Army life in the Pacific Theater of war.
Despite the differences in location and background — she was raised in the shadow of the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City, Missouri and he came from an Andrew County farm – they found common interests. My great-grandmother, Edna’s mother, also hailed from the Fillmore area. They poured out their hearts about music, life, and fell in love by letter.
When V-J Day came, the war ended and Claude would be coming home. They wrote about meeting in person but my grandmother never expected it to play out the way it did.
She woke up one winter morning to find a man, rolled up in his overcoat against the cold, on the porch asleep. It turned out to be Claude. When he’d gotten as far as St. Joe, he headed for the address he knew from the letters but since it was late at night, he decided to wait until morning. By the time my grandmother opened the door, he was nearly frozen.
Grandma invited him in, served him breakfast, and fell the rest of the way in love. They married a few months later and he became one of the best grandpas a child could have.
That’ s a real life love story. I write romance, from sweet to heat but I often draw on actual inspiration from my long relationship with my late husband or other family tales.
You can find my books on Amazon and elsewhere. https://www.amazon.com/stores/Lee-Ann-Sontheimer-Murphy/author/B004JPBM6I
And you can read my ramblings and writings on my blog here: https://leeannsontheimer.blogspot.com/
Real Life Romance: My Love Story by Maria Imbalzano
When I graduated from law school at the age of 28, I was fairly certain I would never get married. I had been on and off with my boyfriend for eight years, my parents had a terrible marriage, and I didn’t want to end up in an unhappy relationship. I had my career ahead of me, I had friends to hang out with, and I was fine by myself.
A few weeks before I was to start my job at a law firm, I met with the managing partner. He said he had good news and bad news. What did I want to hear first? I chose the bad news, which was that another new hire was starting two weeks before me and would be on the letterhead above me. The good news was that he was tall and good-looking.
I laughed that off and began my legal career as anticipated a few weeks later. I did meet the “tall, good-looking attorney” on my first day, since we worked at a small firm (17 lawyers at the time). He was very nice, very handsome, and perfectly tall (6’4” to my 5’9” plus heels). But I had a boyfriend (the on and off guy) and he had a girlfriend (who was very short).
We became friends, hung out on Friday nights for happy hour with our colleagues, and eventually broke up with our significant others due to relationship issues. We both worked late on week nights and started going out to get something to eat when we were famished—sometimes with others, sometimes on our own. It was all very platonic, but something was happening beneath the surface.
On a weekend ski trip with our friends, we somehow ended up in the same room together. My roommate had disappeared into someone else’s room, and he didn’t have a bed in the guys’ room. Although there were bunkbeds, we shared some hot kisses and a bed that night. It all became very romantic over the next few weeks, as we kept our attraction hidden at work, and would meet up clandestinely so no one would know.
Then he got cold feet. He told me we probably shouldn’t continue. We should just go back to being friends. I was devastated. I had fallen for him and didn’t want to be friends. And I told him just that. I said that, of course, I would be friendly at work. I was a professional after all. I told him I respected his decision, but I didn’t want to go back to hanging out. He said he understood and we left the restaurant with heavy hearts.
The very next night, he asked if I wanted to go get something to eat. Had he not heard me? I said no, and reminded him that I did want to revert to the best friends zone. He accepted it that night, but a few days later we were at a firm function. He kept coming over to me, engaging in small talk, sitting down next to me if I sat, following me if I moved to a different spot. Then he asked why I was being so icy.
I reminded him of our recent discussion. Sadness shrouded his eyes, but I could not back down. I had my heart to protect. A few nights later, he asked me to go out to dinner with him. He wanted to talk. Reluctantly, I agreed, despite my resolve. I was still crazy about him, and was willing to spend a few more hours together, hoping he would change his mind.
Although, he never said that in so many words, we spent that night and every night thereafter together—either at my place or his. We went on romantic vacations together, most notably Key West and Rio de Janeiro and married eighteen months later. And I’m still crazy about him today.
*****
I retired from the practice of law a few years ago, and now write full time. In several of my contemporary romance novels, the heroine is a lawyer, and a lawsuit pits the main characters against each other. My new release, “Island Detour,” (on pre-order and out on February 19th) does not follow suit. The main characters are teachers at an environmental school in the Florida Keys. Sunrise Island, a fictional island in the Keys, is based on Key West, which played an important role in my and my husband’s love story. We’ve gone there every year for the past thirty-seven years, and it is definitely one of my happy places.
Buy Links for Island Detour https://books2read.com/u/4D20y7
Meet Maria and follow her writing journey: https://mariaimbalzano.com/
My Favorite Christmas Decoration is the Nativity Scene
I would be remiss if I didn’t get at least one Christmas post up this holiday season. Life is super crazy right now between my day job, my kids’ extra curricular activities, and other duties. And with 2 days until Christmas, I really want to take a break from all of that and write. So I’m going to take the time to write about my favorite Christmas decoration: Nativity Scenes.
Nativity Scenes show the core of the Christmas season for those who are religious: the birth of Jesus Christ. According to the Smithsonian Magazine, the first Nativity scene was displayed in 1223 in Italy. St. Francis of Assisi set up a manger with hay, an ox, and a donkey in a cave and invited people to come and view the display. During the viewing, he preached about the birth of Christ. From there, Nativities spread, eventually including live performers as Mary, Joseph, shepherds, angels, and the wise men. My own family has the young children perform the Nativity each year.
Growing up, my mom had a frosted glass nativity set that sat in the center of the dining table every Christmas season. I thought it was so beautiful. It was my favorite decoration. I positioned it so the figurines faced me where I sat to eat. And as I studied those glass followers of Christ, I began to plan and dream.
I have envisioned and designed the perfect Halloween House and perfect Christmas House since I was a preteen. Now that I have been in my own home for four years, both are slowly coming to fruition.
The inside of my home will be covered in Nativity Scenes. All available space will one day sport a nativity scene, and no number is too many (though my husband may disagree with that second statement, but he just sighs and lets it happen). I currently have 21 and counting!
I enjoy a diverse style and size. I have “traditional” sets, themed sets (i.e. snowmen), large sets, and small sets. Each one makes me smile as I unbox them, and throughout the month look at them.
What’s your favorite Christmas (or other winter holiday) decoration? Let me know in the comments! And have a wonderful holiday season.
Chelsey M. Ortega 