I’m going to cry. This book is adorable personified.
There wasn’t anything amazingly profound about With Love Wherever You Are but it was such a charming read.
With Love Wherever You Are is the story of Frank and Helen Daley, the author’s parents. (Yes! It’s a true story!) A couple of years back Mackall opened her parent’s chest of war time letters – over 600 of them in the course of a year or so. Upon reading them all, Mrs. Mackall’s lovely book ensued.
Helen Eberhart is a spirited army nurse. Frank Daley is a determined army doctor. When the two of them meet at training, it’s love at first sight. After a couple of months of late night walks, chatting, and surprise phone calls, Frank asks Helen to marry him, and much to his surprise she says yes.
As magical as their new life together is, the war sweeps them away from each other only weeks after their wedding. Although they meet a few times during the course of their service in the army, Frank and Helen are sans the other for months and months. (I can’t even imagine how difficult that would as a newly wed.) Since they cannot speak in person, they write letters back and forth. Dozens and dozens of letters.
Through out the course of the war they learn what it means to truly love. In learning what love looks like, they discover what genuine faith looks like in the midst of utter chaos.
I devoured this book like it was an ice cream sundae. Frank and Helen had the sweetest relationship and I loved how they continued to grow in their love, even though it seemed they couldn’t love each other even more than they already did.
Their separation only grew their love and that was beautiful.
Their love bloomed from sweet infatuation to a selfless, tender, and romantic devotion to the other. That my friends, is what love should be. Friendship, devotion, love, and reminding the other who loves them better than they.
What I enjoyed about this story, was that it portrayed a “love at first sight” romance that endured beyond a couple months. Helen and Frank remained married all their lives.
(Aren’t the names Helen and Frank about as 40s’ as you can get? Their names are just so swell. 😉 )
Something else that was very cute was that they signed almost all their letters with, “With love wherever you are.” And that Frank called Helen, Tiny. Every time he called Helen, Tiny, I cried a little on the inside.
(I admit it. I’m a sucker when it comes to love stories.)
With Love Wherever You Are increased my admiration for the “greatest generation” and furthered my belief that love at first sight can be abiding and it is not just the stuff of fiction.
This book was a treat. I recommend it to anyone looking for a wonderful war time love story.
(The pictures above are from Pinterest, and the two photographs of Helen and Frank are from Mrs. Mackall’s blog.)
The Bookshop Barista 