this is not an incredibly well written story, but it is the true story. It is not an uncommon story, but is special and worthy of remembering just as the other similar stories are.
I was moved by the innocence of the home keepers during World War II. When our soldiers are deployed today, we are all too aware of the risks. But, we have incredible ways to communicate with our soldiers and make the distance seem less. To have to wait weeks and weeks for letters to arrive certainly added to the stress.
The memories of the war years awoke some from childhood. I found it poignant that Daphne held this memory in the depths of her heart and didn’t plan to share it with daughter Nancy, if that part isn’t poetic license. I think that may have been a part of ‘the times’; second families didn’t dwell on the lost from a first family. Without these losses, Nancy wouldn’t have existed. How deeply faith was challenged when it appeared prayers weren’t answered ‘right’…yet some blessing was to come.
“Lest we forget” is a phrase that must stay with us. Daphne and Raymond’s story helps.