Clipping from The New York Daily News, January 6, 1947.

So it's 1947, post World War II America, and a young lady from the Bronx, a secretary working for The New York Daily News, has her picture taken. A group of American soldiers stationed in the Aleutian Islands had written to the paper in search of connections to young ladies, inspiring memories of home and romance, elements missing in the life a military service man.

The paper selected five female employees, unmarried women ages 18 to 20, and ran a photo and a short bio of each.

Thousands of letters poured in from servicemen all over the world.

I'll focus on the impact those letters had on the young lady from the Bronx, Emily Greatrex: because that was my Mom. It is because of that news feature and the response from one young Marine Platoon Seargant, Glyn Bostick (my Dad) that all the letters, poems, photos and documents and in fact my life came to be. They celebrated fifty-two years of marriage, raised four children and saw the birth of two grandchildren before the story concluded.

All of the documents and photographs had been tucked away in crawl spaces of our Dewitt, New York Cape Cod that was cleaned, repaired and sold in 2019.

Boxes of unread letters and stories in my possession gave way to a few published children's stories, only recently did I have the peace of mind to start sorting and reading the letters my Dad sent from New Haven to New York City. My mother's responses, some typed but many free-hand poems and letters, made translation slow. Actually I didn't mind, as going slowly allowed me to absorb some intense phrases and personal touches and I didn't want to miss a single sentiment.

The travel back in time allowed me a truer understanding of what my parents meant to each other and how they saw the world. I learned that love was their salvation, inspiration and motivation.

Words are the window dressing of our souls and theirs were clear, gentle and at times impatient, passionate, bold. I found tears and joy I thought I'd lost. Romance novels can't compete with this!, I thought.

Then I thought, what would happen if I shared these letters illustrating the journey of two souls proceeding truly as one. The easy work was curating it all and putting items in chronological order.

Here they are: Emily and Glyn in their purest form. Enjoy!