The group was quiet after the overwhelming emotion of the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor.  After a delicious dinner of smoked pork chops and scalloped potatoes, they returned to the hotel and their respective rooms and beds.  Despite the early hour, the girls fell quickly into dreamland.

*****

“Don’t go.  I don’t want to be strong.  Don’t leave me!” 

Diana’s low moaning and sudden thrashing woke Tessa.  Groggily, she became aware that her friend was caught in the throes of a dream.  Shaking her shoulders, she whispered, “Shhh, Di.  You’re just dreaming.  It’s okay.”

Diana’s violet eyes shot open, and she gasped, looking frantically about the dimly lit room. “Where?  I... Tess?”

“Shhh.  You were dreaming.  Trix and Honey are still asleep.  Shhh.”

“No, we’re not,” Trixie’s somewhat grumpy voice stated.  “What’s going on?”

“Are you okay?”  Honey asked, turning on her nightstand lamp and squinting at the sudden infusion of bright light.

“I’m okay.  Sorry.”  Diana sat up, dashing away residual teardrops with the back of her hands.  “I was just dreaming, and it was so real.”

“What were you dreaming?” asked Trixie, her dislike of being awakened fading in the face of her curiosity.  “It must have been a doozy!”

“I was dreaming about my grandparents,” Di explained. “It just seemed so real--like I was really there.

“I’m not sleepy now,” Tessa claimed.  “Will you tell us the story of your grandparents, Di?”

“Do you really want to hear it?” Diana responded.  “I love the story, but…”

“I’d like to hear it,” Trixie stated.  “It was exciting when I found out about my grandpa…” She grinned at Tessa.  “… our grandpa.  I’d love to hear about your grandparents.”

“Me, too,” Honey chimed in.  “Please, Di?  Will you tell us?”

Diana giggled a little self-consciously.  “If you’re sure…” she said, sitting up a little straighter as she focused her thoughts and began her story. 

“It started way back during World War Two.  My grandma, Lily used to volunteer with her sister at the USO in New York.  They would dress up and dance and talk with the service men in the USO clubs.  This one night…”

****

Lillian O’Donnell looked at the eyeliner in her hand and mentally weighed her options.  Without her older sister to draw the line up the back of her legs, she doubted she could get the faux seams to sit straight.  It could get messy.  The cute white anklets with their lace trim seemed to mock her.  They would be comfortable, to be sure, but they lacked the sophistication of silk stockings.  Not that there were any silk stockings to be had--with the nylon and silk all headed to the war effort.  With a sigh, she tossed the eye pencil onto the vanity and reached for the anklets.  Slipping her sock-clad feet into her polished black pumps, she checked her dress in the mirror.  Calm gray eyes stared back from the mirror as she smoothed her gold-streaked chestnut hair and tucked a stray strand back into her victory roll.

“Lily! Lily O’Donnell! We’re going to be late!”

The voice that reverberated down the hall made her smile slightly, but Lily didn’t have time to think, before the bedroom door flew open, and a whirlwind in a red blouse and pleated navy skirt blew in. Daisy, Lily’s younger sister stood in the doorway, her fair cheeks flushed with excitement and her normal exuberance.

“Come on, Lil,” Daisy insisted.  “Babs will be here any minute.  If we’re not down waiting, she’ll leave without us, and I don’t want to walk to the USO dance.  It’s supposed to snow tonight.”

“I’m almost ready; don’t blow a gasket.”  Lily reached for the lipstick marked Scarlet Letter, applying it generously to her lips.  “I’m not even sure why we’re going tonight.”

Daisy looked at her sister with disdain.  “We’re going to help with the war effort.  We’re going to dance with soldiers--to give them something to remember when they go off to fight.”  Her voice softened.  “We’re doing it for Eddie--and all they boys like him.”

Lilly blinked back tears at the thought of her beloved older brother, shot down while flying strafing runs over Germany.  Daisy was right.  She would go to the dance for Eddie.  Hopefully, over the Atlantic in England, some nice girl had danced with him.  Picking up her dainty green satin hat, she pinned it in place and smoothed her emerald green skirt.  “You’re right.  Let’s go.”  Picking up her tiny clutch bag, she grabbed her sister’s hand and hurried out the door.

*****

The smoke haze drifted across the club, even as the jazz band played.  Lily finished dancing with a soldier, who couldn’t have been more than seventeen, and headed toward the bar, hoping to get a soda or a glass of water.  In the two hours she had been at the club, she had danced with no less than ten different service men.  The band, at least, was good, and so far the men had been polite and not the least bit grabby.  Lily scanned the room, trying to find her sister and their friend.  There was a good turnout tonight, she noted.  Probably because of the band.  The bartender handed her a Coke and a smile, and she grinned back appreciatively, trying not to gulp as the sweet liquid slid down her parched throat.  Tucking another stray hair back into her victory roll, Lily noticed a tall, blond sailor entering the club.

He moved hesitantly through the crowd, the look on his handsome face one of nervousness.  He wore the blue wool winter uniform of a petty officer and carried his sailor hat clutched between his hands.  He wore his blond hair in a crew cut, and even from the distance of twenty feet, Lily could see vulnerability in his wide, china blue eyes.

As she stared at him, it was as if he could hear her thoughts.  He looked up, his eyes meeting hers.  He smiled a slight, hesitant smile, and she was unable to either look away or keep her own mouth from turning up into a shy smile of her own.  As he moved toward her, she found her fingers clutching at her soda glass, and she had to will them to open so she could set it on the bar.

“Hello.” His voice was deep, melodious even, with just a touch of self-consciousness.

“Hello,” Lily managed to say, her gaze still held by the power of those big blue eyes.

“I... I’m Jarrett.  Jarrett Lynch.  Would you like to dance? Please, ma’am?” 

His voice held a twang.  South and west, she’d guess.  Oklahoma or Texas.  As a native New Yorker, she’d become accustomed to picking out the different accents of the soldiers who streamed through the USO club.  “I’m Lily,” she replied, offering her hand, “And I would love to dance, thank you.”

It was hard to say who led whom out on to the floor, as both parties moved in a daze.  But they did dance.  The band moved from The “Pennsylvania Polka” onto “Hep, Hep the Jumpin’ Jive” and by the time they slowed down for “Someone to Watch Over Me”, Lily O’Donnell and Jarrett Lynch had found themselves a perfect fit on the dance floor.

“It’s warm in here,” Jarrett said.  “How about I get us a couple of Cokes and we can sit down out by the coat check?”

Lily blushed.  “I’d like that,” she agreed.  “Just let me tell my friends, so they don’t worry.  I’ll meet you out there.”  She dashed off across the floor as he elbowed his way back to the bar.

By the time Lily had found and explained things to her younger sister, and then maneuvered herself back across the crowded club, the young sailor had accomplished his mission and sat on one of the padded benches lining the wall next to the coat check.  In each hand, he held a glass of soda.

“You waited,” Lily said breathlessly, as she sat down and tucked her dress around her knees.

“Of course,” he said, handing her one of the glasses.  “My mama would have my ears if I was rude to a lady.”

Lily felt her face flush again and tried to hide it by taking a sip of her soda.  “Thank you,” she said.  “For the drink, and for your manners.  Or rather, thank your mama for me.”

“I’ll be sure to do that in my next letter.”  Jarrett smiled at her, a wide, slightly tilted grin that sent her heart a-fluttering.

“Have you been in service for very long?” Lily asked, remembering her USO training.

“A little over a year, not quite two.”  He stretched out his long legs.  “I’m stationed on the Paroo.  We took a torpedo a while back.  Made what repairs we could, but we had to be towed in for the big fix.  It’ll be another month before we’re cleared out of New York.”  He took another drink and grinned at her again, his blue eyes twinkling.  “Let me see,” he teased, “I think the next questions are my name, rank, and hometown, right?”  She blushed again, and he answered the questions.  “I’m Jarrett Phillip Lynch.  I’m a petty officer in the U.S. Navy, and I hail from a little town called Breckenridge, which is pretty close to the middle of the great state of Texas.”  He leaned back against the wall. “So, how about your name, rank and hometown?”

“Well, fair is fair, I guess.”  Lily smiled back at him.  “My name is Lillian O’Donnell, and I don’t have a rank.  I’m a secretary at MidTown Insurance and have been since I graduated from school last year.  I live here, in New York, where I was born and raised.”

“And you come to USO dances.  Why?”  His blue eyes were curious now.  “I mean, a gorgeous gal like you, doesn’t your fellow object?”

“I don’t have a fellow, if that’s what you’re asking.”  Lily shook her head.  “I come to the dances with my sister to show support for all of you boys... men in uniform.  My brother, Eddie, is in the Army Air Corp.   His squadron is stationed in England.  My brother-in-law, Charlie, is a Marine, serving out in the Sea of Japan.”  She shrugged.  “Hopefully, there are people who are willing to sit with them and ask silly questions when they need a friend.  That’s why I come.”

“Most admirable.”  He reached for her hand.  “Miss Lily, I find I would very much like to spend some more time with you.  I am on duty tomorrow, but I have most of Sunday free.  May I call on you? Please?”

Again, those china blue eyes seemed to grab at her heart and hold her enthralled.  She stuttered, “I... Sunday... I have church.”

He smiled.  Not the charming, tilted grin, but a real smile that lit up his face.  “If I may presume, with a name like O’Donnell, would your church happen to be a Catholic one?”

“Yes.  St. Mary’s.”  She peered at him curiously.  “Are you Catholic?”

“Born and bred.  See?  It’s fate, you and I.”  He squeezed her hands gently, his words becoming more formal.  “May I please escort you to Sunday mass, Miss O’Donnell?”

“I would be honored to accompany you, Petty Officer Lynch,” she answered in an equally formal tone.  “We usually attend the nine o’clock service.  Perhaps you could meet us there, and then come to my family’s house for lunch?”

“It would be my pleasure.”  He pressed her hands between his again and reluctantly released them.  “You’ll need to give me the address for St. Mary’s,” he said.  “I’ve been in this city for a month, and I still get lost on the subway.”

Lily giggled.  “It’s easy.  St. Mary’s is only a few blocks from here, and you seem to have found here pretty easily.”

“It took me three tries,” he told her with an exaggerated shudder.  “That’s why I arrived so very late.”

Lily looked up at him into those captivating eyes.  “I think,” she whispered, “that you arrived at the perfect time.”

*****

Time moved quickly, from that Friday night in a smoky, crowded dance club, to a crisp, clear, Sunday morning, outside a stately stone cathedral.  Lily nervously straightened the gored skirt of her pearly grey rayon suit.  “What was I thinking?” she muttered.  “Inviting a sailor I met in a club to church with my family.  Maybe he won’t come.”  She gripped the lapel of her thrice hand-me-down wool gabardine coat and pulled it more securely closed.

“Or maybe he will.  Having second thoughts?”

Lily turned in surprise, and there he was.  Tall and handsome in his dress blues, the shy smile on his face as compelling as it had been on Friday night.  Her doubt vanished and she extended her hand.  “I’m glad you made it, Jarrett.  Come, I’ll introduce you to my mother and sisters.”

He took her dainty hand, enveloping it in his strong and calloused one, and followed her into the church.  “Mum.” Lily caught her mother’s attention, drawing her away from  her chat with Sister Mary Alice. “Mum, this is Petty Officer Jarrett Lynch.  Jarrett, this is my mother, Mrs. Moira O’Donnell.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am.”  Jarrett gripped the lady’s hand gently but firmly.  “I can see where your daughter gets her lovely eyes.”

“Well, young man, you definitely have a touch of the blarney in your soul.”  Moira O’Donnell narrowed the aforementioned gray eyes, and scrutinized the sailor before her.  What she saw evidently met her standard, for she quickly beckoned her two other daughters to come for introductions.  “Rose, Daisy, this is Petty Officer Lynch.  Officer Lynch, these are my daughters, Daisy O’Donnell and Rose Fitzpatrick.  Rose’s husband Charlie is a Marine Sergeant serving in Europe.”

“My pleasure, ma’am,” Jarrett said, shaking Rose’s hand.  As he took Daisy’s, he grinned.  “It’s nice to see you again, Miss Daisy.”

Music began playing inside the sanctuary, effectively halting further conversation.  Lily led Jarrett as she followed her mother and sisters inside.  She watched surreptitiously as Jarrett made the sign of the cross, and then as he responded to the liturgy.  He did it perfectly, just as one who had been born and bred in the Church would do.  Lily felt herself relaxing a little--obviously Jarrett Lynch had been honest with her.  She decided to stop second-guessing herself and her judgment.

After church, they walked the eight blocks to the O’Donnell apartment.  While Rose and Moira hurried into the kitchen to prepare lunch, Lily sat on the sofa in the parlor, talking with Jarrett as Daisy chaperoned.

“How old are you, anyway?” Daisy asked in her straightforward way.  “I’m almost seventeen, and you don’t look any older than the boys I go to school with.”

“I’ll be nineteen in October,” Jarrett replied.

“But...” Lily’s forehead wrinkled.  “I thought you said you’d been in the Navy almost two years.”

“Two years in June,” he replied.  Lowering his voice, he told her, “I forged Mama’s signature on the papers when I was sixteen.”

“Why?”  Lily couldn’t keep the horror out of her voice.  “Your poor mother.  Why would you do that?”

Jarrett smiled sadly.  “I’m the second son,” he explained.  “I was born right in the middle.  Jay was first, and then June, then me, Judy and Jacob.”

Lily interrupted, “Your family certainly likes the letter J.”

“And yours likes flowers.”

“True,” she said with a smile.  “Although our names are Rosalie, Lillian and Margaret.  Daddy just liked flowers for pet names.”

“Tell me about your father.  Is he in service?”

The pretty gray eyes clouded.  “No.  Daddy died suddenly, the day after we got the news about Pearl Harbor.  His heart just gave out.”

“I’m so sorry,” Jarrett seemed genuinely contrite.  “I had no idea.”

“And why would you?” Lily asked.  “Now, enough about my family.  You were telling us why you ran away with forged papers.”

“I was, wasn’t I?”  Jarrett slipped back into his story.  “My family is very close.  My father and his two brothers all farm the same piece of land, and all of us kids grew up together.  My cousin Willie was the oldest, and I always idolized him and my brother, Jay.  I always wanted to do everything they did.  They joined the Navy together, back in 1940.  Willie was nineteen, Jay eighteen.  I wanted to go to, but I was only fifteen.”  He paused, leaning back against the sofa.  “The letters they wrote made me jealous.  They were doing something.  They were men, and I was just a kid left home to tend the cows and till the fields.  I wanted to be on board the ship with them, especially when they were both stationed in Hawaii.”

“Hawaii?” Daisy asked. “Oh, no.  Not at Pearl?”

“Yes.” Jarrett confirmed, sorrow edging his voice.  “They were stationed at Pearl Harbor, both of them on board the USS Arizona.”

Tears welled in Lily’s eyes.  She could predict the outcome of this story.  Blindly, she reached for Jarrett’s hand, and he took it, clinging to her as he finished.  “They both went down with the ship.  And I knew, I knew that I had to finish what they started.  So, as soon as I had a plan, I signed Mama’s name and headed to California.  I’ve been on the Paroo almost ever since.”

“Your poor mother must have been so very upset.”  Lily shook her head.

“She was,” Jarrett admitted.  “She threatened to come and drag me home by my ear, but Daddy talked her out of it.  He told her I was a man, and I could make my own decisions.”

“Lily said your ship was in for repairs.  What happened?”  Daisy leaned forward, anticipating the tale.

“We took a torpedo broadside, just off the Philippines.  We were able to patch it and limp along, but once the air cleared, we had to be towed in for repairs.”

“Were there casualties?” the ever-inquisitive Daisy asked.

Jarrett flinched, his eyes clouding.  “Yes.  We lost fourteen sailors in the hit.  Fourteen good men, and another forty-eight were wounded, some very seriously.  But we salvaged the ship, and we’ll be back out there in a few weeks.”

“Were you injured?  Were you scared?”

“That’s enough, Daisy!”  Lily glared at her little sister.  “You needn’t be so nosy.”

“It’s all right,” Jarrett told her.  Facing Daisy, he answered her honestly.  “I was burned a little.”  He rolled back the sleeve of his left arm, revealing a burn that ran from the inside of his elbow to his wrist, raw and red with healing. “I’m scared every time we’re under fire, but I’m too busy doing my job to think about it.  When the bullets and bombs are falling all around us, and those planes are on strafing runs, the only thing I have time to think about is what I need to do to keep my ship, my crewmates, and myself from dying.  So far, most times I’ve managed, but it’s a crap shoot, and it isn’t fun or glamorous.”

“Lunch is ready,” Moira O’Donnell said from the doorway.  “Lily will show you where to wash.  Daisy please set the table.”

*****

Lunch led to dinner, and dinner to a movie on Tuesday night.  The movie on Tuesday led to a sweet first kiss, which lengthened into several minutes of serious kissing on the front stoop after a second Friday night at the USO.  Breathless, with a heart fluttering like a hummingbird in flight, Lily shut the door behind her and climbed the stairs to the apartment, where a curious Daisy waited to pump her for information.

“He kissed you!”  Daisy squealed as Lily entered their room.  She knelt on her bed, a pillow hugged tight to her chest.  “How was it?”

“Were you spying on me, Margaret Anne?”

“Of course!” the unrepentant sixteen-year-old exclaimed.  “So spill it, Sis.  How was it?”

Lily pulled her lower lip in under her top teeth, her tongue touching gently her slightly swollen mouth.  With a dreamy smile, she fell backwards on her own bed. “Perfect.  Absolutely perfect.”

“Did he try to get to second base?” Daisy asked.

“No!” Lily scowled at her sister.  The dreamy look returned as she whispered.  “He’s the perfect gentleman.”

“Lil?  Are you in love with him?” Daisy was astonished.  “You’ve only known him a week.”

“I know.”  Lily rolled off the bed and began undressing.  “It doesn’t make any sense, but I can’t help how I feel when I’m with Jarrett.  I feel safe and happy and content.”

“You are in love with him!” Daisy exclaimed.  “Oh, Lily.  He’s going to be leaving in a few weeks.”

“I know.”  Lily sobered, tears welling in her gray eyes.  “I know.”  She tied her robe around her waist and ran for the bathroom.

*****

In three weeks, it had become a routine.  Jarrett would meet the O’Donnell women at St. Mary’s on Sunday, and then accompany them home for lunch and a little “spooning” in the parlor.  It was on the third Sunday that he learned, completely by accident, the secret they held regarding Edward O’Donnell.  As he took his tea to the parlor, he slipped on the throw rug, sloshing the liquid onto the writing desk.  Snatching his handkerchief out of his pocket, he quickly attempted to mop up his spill.  That was when he noticed the letter from the War Department.

“Jarrett?”  Lily stepped into the hall, a plate of cookies in her hands.  “What are you doing?”

“I spilled.  I was cleaning it up and I found this.”  His blue eyes were intent.  “It’s about your brother.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, Jarrett.  It was just...”  She set down the plate and reached for his hand.  “Come in to the parlor, and I’ll explain.”  She led him to the sofa, crossing her ankles as she sat, her hands clutched in her lap.

“Your brother isn’t in England, is he?”

“He was.  That much was true.  Eddie joined the Army Air Corps, and he was flying with the RAF... until last October.”  Lily looked at him, her gray eyes damp.  “In October, his B-17 was shot down.  He and the crew survived and were taken to an internment camp.  Charlie thinks it was in Switzerland, but the few letters we got were censored.”

“But he isn’t still there, is he, Lily?  If he were, you wouldn’t have that letter.”

“No.”  Lily looked up at him, imploring him to understand.  “He escaped in January, and we don’t know what happened to him.  Mum’s been visited twice by officials, and they told us not to tell anyone.  They said it could cost Eddie his life.”

“I understand.”  Jarrett reached for her, holding her close, her head resting on his chest.  “I get it, baby.  I know.”  She cried softly, her tears dampening the front of his shirt. 

“I’m so scared,” she wept.  “Not just for Eddie, but for you.  You’ll be leaving soon, and I won’t ever see you again.”

“Lily,” Jarrett whispered the words into her hair, his hand moving to raise her face to his.  “I don’t want to never see you again.  Marry me.”

“What?”  Lily asked in shock, wiping her eyes with her fingertips.  “What did you say?”

“I said, ‘Marry me’.  Please?  I know it’s only been a few weeks, but I love you.  Be my wife; give me a reason to come back to New York.  Say yes, Lil.  Say you’ll marry me, wait for me, build a life with me when this war is over.  Will you?”

She looked at him, losing herself in those true blue eyes.  Her head told her she was a fool, but her heart nearly burst at his words.  “Oh, Jarrett!” she exclaimed, “I will.  Yes, I will marry you.  I love you so much!”  She threw her arms around his neck, overcome by a fresh flood of tears.

They sat like that for several minutes.  Finally, Jarrett pulled away, disentangling himself from her arms.  “That didn’t happen quite like I planned,” he apologized.  “I planned on waiting until next week.  I was going to take you out to dinner on Valentine’s Day.  Dinner and dancing, and then, when dessert came, I was going to ask you to be my wife.”  He shrugged self-consciously.  “I even bought a ring.  I’m supposed to pick it up tomorrow.  I wanted to give you romance, Lily.  I guess I blew it.”

Lily smiled through her tears.  “You didn’t.  That was the most perfect and romantic proposal ever.  Oh, Jarrett!”  She wrapped her arms around him, drawing his lips to hers.

*****

Despite the protests of Moira O’Donnell, the young lovers were determined to be wed before Jarrett returned to the war.  It led to much discussion between mother and daughter, but in the end, love won out, and Lily and Jarrett began attending Pre-cana classes at St. Mary’s with Father Roberts.

They took an abbreviated course, as they waited anxiously for Jarrett’s orders to be issued.  It was somewhat amusing for them, discussing marriage and children with a man who had foresworn both.  Still, they attended with due solemnity, knowing that to have their union sanctioned and blessed, they needed to follow the path.

On the last Friday of February, Jarrett knocked on the O’Donnells’ door, a solemn look on his face.  Lily knew the moment she opened the door.  “When?” she rasped.

“March seventh,” he told her, forcing a smile.  “The good news is that I have leave from Sunday to Saturday.  Do you think we can pull a wedding together in that much time?”

“Mum can.  I know it.”  Lily led him inside.  “Mum’s a treat at making things work.”

****

For a wedding that took four days to plan and implement, it was beautiful.  Wearing the ivory rayon suit her older sister had worn at her own wedding two years earlier, Lillian Marie O’Donnell stood in front of the priest, her younger sister, Daisy, at her side.  Her chestnut hair was pulled up on the crown and tucked into a loose chignon, topped by the white silk Juliet cap and lace veil her own mother had worn on the day she had wed Patrick O’Donnell.  She carried a small nosegay consisting of a pink rose, a white daisy, and a stargazer lily.  Jarrett Lynch, resplendent in his dress uniform, took her hand, and before God, Father Roberts, and about forty assorted family members and friends, they swore to love honor and cherish one another forever, until death parted them.

Jarrett’s friend and fellow sailor, Petty Officer Michael Irving, stood as his best man, flirting quietly with Daisy throughout the ceremony.  In the basement reception hall, the newlyweds shared their first bites as a married couple, slicing small pieces out of the cake Moira had made from supplies generously donated by the ladies guild.

With a shower of rice, the happy couple ducked out of the church to the hoots and well wishes of the assembled guests.  Jarrett helped his bride into the waiting taxi, as the driver stowed Lily’s overnight bag and Jarrett’s duffle in the trunk.  Waving, they were carried off to their honeymoon destination.

*****

As the ship pulled away, Lily’s eyes glazed with tears, making it harder to see Jarrett standing on deck.  Still, she raised her chin defiantly and managed a tremulous smile.  She would be strong.  She would be brave.  She would make her husband proud and pray for an end to the war until the day he returned safely to her arms.

“And she did,” Diana finished quietly.  “Even though it wasn’t easy, Grandma stayed strong.  My Uncle Jimmy was born nine months after their wedding.  Grandma named him James William, after Grandpa’s brother and cousin.”  She yawned.  “Sorry.”

“Obviously,” Trixie commented, “Your grandfather made it home.  How about your grandmother’s brother and brother-in-law?”

“Uncle Charlie and Uncle Eddie made it home, too,” Diana assured her.  “Although Uncle Charlie lost an eye.  Someday I’ll have to tell you the story of Uncle Eddie.  He was a prisoner of war at Dachau in Germany, and he escaped.  Daddy’s named for him.”  She yawned again.  “But that’ll have to wait for another time.  I need my beauty sleep, and Honey’s already dozing.”

“What? No, I’m not!” Honey’s hazel eyes flew open.  The other three girls giggled, and she had to join them, “Okay, maybe I’m a little sleepy.  But that was a great story Di.  Really romantic and sweet.  Thank you for sharing it.”

“Yeah.  Thanks, Di.”  Trixie covered her own yawn.

“Sweeter dreams, Princess Di,” Tessa murmured, as she turned off the light.  “Sweeter dreams.”

And they were.

*****

Author’s Notes

Thank you to my editors and my readers.  I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into the past.  It is quite close to my heart.

The story of how Lily and Jarrett met and married is based on how my paternal grandparents Lillian Pascale and Leland Gibson met and married.  It was New York--but she was an Italian Catholic girl, and he was a farm boy from Missouri.  As far as I know, Grandpa didn’t lose anyone at Pearl, but he did forge his mother’s signature and run away to join the Navy.

Someday, I hope to tell Eddie Lynch’s story.  It is the story of my maternal grandfather, whose plane was shot down over Switzerland.  He was interred in Switzerland, and the second time he escaped, the Swiss turned him over to the Germans.  He did eventually escape from the Nazi death camp at Dachau, but that is another story for another time

Hawaii: Pearl Harbor

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Nature Trek: Heartbreak & Healing