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Christmas Eve, 1946
All my love, my thoughts, my dreams, and my hopes are with you tonight, dearest. Could I but hop on a star and glide to where you are. If only for a moment—a moment of beauty and love that would cause all the separating miles and hours to pale and fade away. No stars for rent, sweetheart, but I’ll be around in my own special dream boat sometime between now and the dawn.
—Lt. Donald Edgar Storey, United States Navy, to his wife, Margery
U.S. naval officer Donald Storey was not just fighting for his country in World War II—he was fighting to come home to his love, Margery. The letters the couple wrote to each other became their lifeline, providing comfort in a time of constant uncertainty.
In Lisa Franco’s My Dearest Darling: Letters of Love in Wartime, Donald’s and Margery’s intimate correspondence not only offers a heartwarming account of their romance and personal sacrifices, but also shines a light on historical events as they unfolded overseas and at home.
Franco stumbled upon the lost letters during a fateful stop at an antique shop. What started as a curiosity became, with each subsequent letter, an obsession with finding the couple’s family, learning their history, and ultimately, discovering what happened to them after the war.
With their family’s help, as well as other historical resources, Franco maps the couple’s life during their five-year-long separation and ensures that no aspect of this enduring love story is left behind.
Lisa Franco has been telling people’s stories for more than four decades. As a writer/producer for the ABC television affiliate WTNH 8 in New Haven, Connecticut, she earned multiple Emmy nominations and journalism awards for her documentaries. She also served as public affairs director for the station before she became the state communications director for one of the largest nonprofit organizations in the country.
While Lisa’s background includes marketing, media relations, and public relations, these days she is a freelance writer and owner of Over the Moon Vintage, an online collectibles shop.
Lisa’s parents were members of the Greatest Generation, and her father, Nino Maurizi, was a World War II Army Air Corps veteran. She attributes this to her interest in the war and the loving relationships that developed during that period in our history.
Lisa and her husband, Joe, live in Connecticut and Cape Cod and are the proud parents of their sixth rescue dog, Maggie.