Hello, my friend! I’m happy you are here. I have something personal to share like my father’s letter after D-Day (today is the anniversary). Also, good television shows, and some bookshelf styling. And of course, we have Annie and Cindy’s Five Faves, too!
What to Watch
Mare of Eastown on HBO
“As her life crumbles around her, a small-town Pennsylvania detective Mare Sheehan (Kate Winslet) investigates a local murder.” It’s pretty gritty. But Kate Winslet is great and we enjoyed it.
Hacks on HBO
“Two women from different generations find common ground through comedy.” It’s clever and Jean Smart should win an Emmy.
Bookshelf Styling
We are pulling together my client, Theresa’s house. But to tide her over until new furniture comes, I styled her family room bookshelves. She wanted a muted, serene feel.
I start with the larger items and fill in with books and smaller objects. You may also like Step By Step BOOKSHELF Styling Tips Before and After.
What to Read
The Four Winds by Kristen Hannah. This book is SO good, I was obsessed with finishing it. In fact, I told Cindy H. that I was going to take a little break from listening to audiobooks so that I can focus on everyday life for a while…like having an actual conversation with my husband.
“A powerful American epic about love and heroism and hope, set during the Great Depression, a time when the country was in crisis and at war with itself when millions were out of work and even the land seemed to have turned against them.”
My Father’s Letter After D-Day
Today is the anniversary of the Allied forces landing in Normandy on June 6, 1944. My father was there on Omaha Beach. Every year on June 6, he would announce “It’s D-DAY.” I think he was surprised/relieved he survived.
Dad had graduated from law school when the army made him a lieutenant at age 28. With not much experience, he was put in charge of a platoon of men. Here is the letter that he wrote to my aunt and uncle from France. It’s long and he sounds miserable but read the second to last paragraph and you can see his hope.
My Father’s Letter After D-Day:
My father, James E. Cunningham, Sr. died of cancer on June 6, 1992. D-day. It’s comforting to know our mother is with him now.
Fathers Day Gift Guide
Time to celebrate the Fathers! Mine was a great cook (as is my husband). I know Dad would have liked the Laguiole steak knives! We love ours.
Aesop Bath Soap (Howard and Thomas don’t use cologne but they love the scent of this soap) • Classic Wayfarer Sunglasses with a reduced price from Nordstrom Rack), • Tommy Bahamas casual shirt (Howard wants this) • Fishing or outdoor sport shirt that comes in long or short sleeves and lots of colors with sun protection). Howard has several of these…no ironing needed. • French steak knives (dishwasher safe). • Grilling apron • Flip-flops for boating (slip-resistant) • BBQ pans (the bottom separates marinated meat from the top).
Let’s check out what Cindy and Annie have for us!
CINDY HATTERSLEY DESIGN
MOST LOVELY THINGS
That’s my Father’s Letter After D-Day, good television shows, a great book, and Father’s Day gift guide.
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My dad also landed at the beaches. Toward the end of his life he opened up a little more about his time in Europe. He told how they’d been kept below decks until just before D-Day when some (all?) were allowed up. He recalled looking out at the sea of war ships and thinking, “This is going to be big. Walter, today you become a man (he was 20).”.
I’m glad he isn’t here today to see what has become of this once great country.
Thank you for sharing your father’s letter. It’s so full of faith and hope in the midst of the messed up world he was living in. A great lesson for us all.
Thanks so much, Anita…I felt the hope too.
What a treasure to have your father’s letter. If it wasn’t for brave men like him, who knows what would have happened! As always, I so enjoy your blog! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much, Angie!!
What a beautiful letter — it brings history to life so poignantly. What a wonderful man he must have been to have such faith. His faith and sensitivity is so evident in his words about the wedding couple. Amazing, really.
I think so too, Beth!
Thank you for sharing your father’s letter. He sounds like a very eloquent and deep man. I’m thankful to be reminded of what he and others gave so we can live as we do today.
Thank you, Kim.
Wow! Thank you, so much, for having the courage to share your letter! Tears streamed down my face as I read it. His solid faith in God and hopeful honor in serving his country is something lost today. My grandfather served in WWII and never wanted to speak of it. If a movie was on the television that was set during the war, he would quietly turn his head or leave the room. I have SO MUCH love, appreciation and admiration for those from that, the truly “Greatest Generation”. Like others have shared in their comments, we have so much to be grateful for in that these brave young men served patriotically to preserve our freedoms. I too am brokenhearted over the divided state of our nation…and I wonder what those young men would think. Our is not the America they would remember (recognize) and that they fought to preserve. Would that people could understand and value such and strive to return our nation and culture to one that holds faith in God, honors and esteems and serves one another.
Thanks, Lori. He kept his faith his entire life, too. He had a very good moral compass that he instilled in his children and later used when he became a judge.
Thank you for sharing the letter from your Dad. His courage, love, strong character, faith, patriotism and humility shines brightly. The sacrifice of that generation gave us an incalculably great gift. Thank you.
So true, Pat!
I absolutely loved reading your father’s letter. Thank you for sharing. What a strong faith!
Thanks, Monica! Strong faith but you know he must have been scared for himself and his men too.
MA – your father’s letter is a treasure. The art of letter writing is something we’ve lost … such an eloquent letter in the face of incredible hardship. On a happier not, no one does shelf like you. Theresa must be thrilled. We loved Mare of Eastown, although during the first episode I thought it was not for me. Jean Smart was so good and I can’t wait to watch Hacks. xo
Jean Smart has such different roles in both shows…I almost forgot she is in each!
I’m so glad your family has this letter from his service in Normandy. I hope the next mail call had something from family or friends for him. Thank you for sharing. We should never forget.
I know, Melinda! Letters must have felt like a lifeline.
LOVED THE LETTER!
BOY OH BOY HE WAS 28/26 and wrote so eloquently!!!THAT IS A LOST ART NOW!
I WOULD FRAME THAT IF I WERE YOU AND HANG WITH YOUR GALLERY WALL!
Thank you so much, Elizabeth. Hope to see you soon!!
Thank you for sharing. My grandfather was in the Navy during WWII and wrote many letters to his wife back in Texas. You just never realize that your “poor, old” grandparents actually had lives before you came along, lol.
That’s great that you have the letters, Shelley!
Mary Ann,
I am so grateful that you shared your father”s letter on the anniversary of D Day. I always pause on June 6th to give honor to the men and women who sacrificed so much to save Freedom. But, yesterday I was especially feeling low and missing my Father who served in the Army at the landing and all through France, Belgium and Netherlands. I was born after the war but he had to leave my mother and a nine month old baby girl, my sister, to fight in a foreign land. He returned home with more mental injuries than the physical ones he had endured. I remember that he was fun loving man but a gentle man who saw many things which we now can read about in books but can never full comprehend because they never shared the horrible stories after the war. And why would they want us to know.
I have a Christmas card that was sent from him to his sister during the war which I treasure and some photos of him in Britain and France.
But yesterday, I was wishing that I could have talked to Daddy about the war. Since I was twelve when he died, I never had that talk with him. So, I cried through reading your father’s letter and could imagine my father going to church with his army platoon. He was raised Catholic and loved church. God was there in Europe when our American soldiers needed him more than ever.
I thank you for sharing your Dad with us in his letter of hope. Now, I have a vision of the men who found solace in prayer at a French church while so far away from home.
May they all rest in peace.
So beautifully written, Patricia. Brings tears to my eyes.
What a priceless letter for your family!! My daddy and mama wrote each other often (they were married and had two young girls when he was drafted). After the war was over and Daddy returned home, they decided it was too painful to re-read the letters, and too personal for others to read, so they burned them. They made sure that stories were shared with us that they didn’t mind sharing – like the one about Mama riding a train from Georgia to California sitting on her suitcase. They got an apartment, and she was there for six weeks, getting a job at Kress’ while she was out there. Her SS# is a California #, that’s the only time she’s lived anywhere other than Georgia.
I enjoyed the Father’s Day suggestions….always enjoy your blog!
Oh, that’s a good story…sitting on her suitcase all the way to California! Thank you for commenting, Debbie.
LOVED that letter….great Father’s Day Gift Ideas (I forgot until too late) , and those bookshelves are absolutely beautiful. You are the champ at styling bookshelves! I wish we got HBO (oh wait maybe we do now?). I will have to ask Colin.
Thanks, Cindy! Isn’t it funny how we have to ask our sons about technical tv stuff yet we have the social media tech stuff down?
I left a comment yesterday and it disappeared. It is so annoying when that happens. What a wonderful tribute to your father and all those that sacrificed so much. What a gifted writer he was. That letter was so touching. Beautiful shelfie styling as always and thank you for the book and movie tips!
What a beautiful letter. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks, Beverly.
Thank you for sharing, Mary Ann…We were fortunate enough to be in Normandy for the 75th anniversary of the invasion two years ago….blessings to you and your family. They so appreciate what the Americans did back then and now in Normandy! Thank you, to your father, for his service. My dad, a WWII vet, served in the Pacific…he didn’t think he was ever going to come home and wrote a good-bye letter to his parents. Heart breaking as it is to read it…he came home. He was going to be the first wave to invade Japan…He passed three years ago tomorrow. Hugs, Elizabeth
oh that would be a heartbreaking letter to read, Elizabeth. Sounds like a great man and I’m sure you miss him.
Mary Ann,
What a family treasure to still have your dad’s letter from WWII.
I watched Mare of Eastown. I thought it was well done, but kind of a downer. Hacks on HBO is pretty funny.
the shelves you styled are lovely. You always have a fresh look to your design.
Karen
True, Karen, Mare of Eastown is sort of depressing. But good acting.
Mary Ann, I just keep reading and re-reading your dad’s letter. And above the date…somewhere in France. To think he was only 28 when he wrote this and experienced this. So moving to read it and see it!
xo
annie
I know, Annie. I wish we had more letters.
Reading your father’s letter was so moving, thank you for sharing it.
Thank you for the comment, Danita! Have a good evening.
Hi, Mary Ann. I really enjoyed your Father’s D-Day letter. Thank you so much for sharing it with us. I have one my Father wrote from Pearl Harbor. I framed it with some of his military pictures. It is precious to me. I have no doubt they truly were the Greatest Generation.
I was glad to see you recommend Mare of Eastown. It was excellent. Also, I thought The Four Winds was a very memorable story. Living in West Texas, I know Dalhart.
Wasn’t it a great book, Linda?! How great you framed your dad’s letter. They were the greatest generation!
Beautiful. Thank you for sharing the letter. So great to hear first hand from one of our boys who was there. We have been. So incredibly moving.
Yes. My dad should have been a writer. But he had six kids and was our mayor, state senator and then a judge for several years. So he was pretty busy!
I also was moved by the letter from your Father and as someone else mentioned, by the fact that he died on June 6. If you are loving “The Four Winds” you should read “Nightingale” by the same author. It is the story of wartime in France and really brought home to me the conditions the men were under and their sacrifices.
I did read, Nightingale, Wren. It was great too. Such a talented author.
Hi Mary Ann,
Thank you so very much for sharing your father’s letter. It’s personal and I am deeply touched that you shared this with us. I can tell
from your father’s letter he was a very special man and father to you and his family, This letter is a treasure, something that is near and dear to you on so many levels. I am sure your father would be so proud of you and the unique talents you have for turning objects into
beauty all of their own.
Also thank you for sharing the other items of interest.
Thanks, Katherine, for your kind comment. My dad had a way of making you feel you were the most interesting person in the world. If you were interested in something, he would ask you lots of questions.
Thank you for sharing. What a gift he left for his family. My father was a Korean War vet and never talked about his experiences. After he died we heard a story about a true act of heroism he performed. Actually saved his cousin’s life. How they encountered each other is a mystery. The greatest generation.
Wow, what a great story, Debra!
Mary Anne, your father’s letter was just wonderful, what a writer, he could have written a novel on his experiences in Normandy.
I know you are proud of him and I really appreciate your sharing a letter from one of the “Greatest Generation”!
Judee Biggles
Thanks so much, Judee!
Mary Ann, thank you for sharing your very special letter! I must confess, I cried. All those young men bravely serving our country, many who perished. I’m sure you had many reasons to be proud of your father, but, his service is certainly reason for pride.
Yes we were all proud of him, Susan! I cry each time I read it.
Mary Ann, I read every word of the letter and know that you cherish it. The men , including my father who was on Saipan for three years, were the epitome of bravery, Thank you so much for sharing. I also so enjoy your Instagram posts!
Thanks for commenting, Nancy. How lucky we are to have great fathers!
Thank you for including your fathers letter. I hadn’t seen the date today. What incredible bravery. These men saved us. I would love to here your fathers experience on D-Day. Today I saw a video on TikTok. It showed the French people who tend the graves rubbing sand from the Normandy Beaches into the ingraved tombstones so thalamus on the gravestones stood out. Very moving.
That makes me want to watch Tik Tok, Sandra!
❤ I’m too choked up to write what I wanted to say. Thank you for this, have a blessed day 🙏
You have a blessed day too, Christine!!
Wow, your father had a way with words. Sounds like a great man!
He was, Marilyn. Thank you!
Mary Ann-
What a beautiful letter your dad wrote from France in the midst of the chaos. How wise he was to take the men to Mass on Sunday. This letter moved me and is a family treasure to you and your children. Thank you for sharing it, especially today, D Day.
After my parents passed we found an old shoe box of over 100 letters our dad wrote from “Somewhere in the South Pacific” to his parents. Dad served as a Marine Captain right after graduating from UCLA and although he seldom spoke of his experiences, reading these letters enlightened me on the huge sacrifices our dads made for our country.
You and I are blessed to have had such wonderful dads in our lives…
Yes, Jeannie,
What a treasure you have with that shoebox. And you are right. We are lucky to have had such great dads!
Thank you Mary Ann for sharing your father’s beautifully written letter full of so much hope and wisdom. I am so grateful to him and all the men and women who have fought for our freedom. May we never forget!
YES, Kathy!
I am lost for words, thank you for sharing. The gift you gave us all on this very important day and knowing that men like your Dad saved us all. Let us not waste their lives.
So sweet, Mary Ann. Thank you.
What a wonderful letter and a treasure for you. Thank you for sharing it!
Thank you, Davina!
Thank you for sharing your father’s letter. My father, too, graduated law school, and served as a paramedic in WWII. He, too, landed in Normandy, but not the first wave. His troop was one of the first in, and one of the last to return home. Two years ago my family went to Normandy and toured the beaches where the US troops landed. Hard to imagine with such beauty that day, it was a different story years ago. Very solemn… we owe so much to the men and women who serve our country. May God bless them all
Thanks so much, Cheryl…I bet our dad’s would have been friends. Such admirable men.
Yes, I bet they would have been friends! Indeed, admirable, and we were lucky to have them as our fathers.
Definitely!
Happy Sunday Mary Ann,
Thank you so much for posting your father’s letter he writes so beautifully. The paragraph about the rain really resonated with me as I know northern France and it can be soul destroying in the winter with the grey skies and the elements. I thank him for his service and keeping us safe. Our beautiful son is in the Air Force and he is going to be a fighter pilot-F22-and currently he is doing survival training so we are thinking of him all hours of the day as you do!! Incredible yung men and women.
Kate Winslet should get all the awards for her performance and Jean Smart!
Francesca, you must be SO proud of your boy. Funny it was raining so much in July in Normandy. Kate is amazing…so believable.
Thank you for sharing your father’s letter with your readers. It inspires hope during these times when civility and courage seem to be in short supply.
Thank you, Stacy!!!
What a gift and a reminder your fathers letter is , thank you so
much for sharing . I was a Navy nurse in Vietnam my faith was
really shaken that year I often ask how could God let this happen.
I so admire your fathers courage to see God’s Grace even in such
chaos. When I came home questioning where God was in
Vietnam a priest told me I think he was there in the hands of
the nurses . So many generations gave so much for our freedom
My heart breaks for our country in our division.
Oh Alexis, that is so beautiful what the priest told you. Thanks for sharing that.
Really beautiful and yes hard to understand how God let’s some things happen…agree with the priest, and count on my faith even in the worst times. Such a great letter Mary Ann, I loved many of your dads words/phrases. Would have enjoyed “chewing the fat” with him. Always need new tv series (especially one husbands can enjoy too.)
I am very thankful that you shared your Fathers letter. Given the times we are in a reminder of what is important and what it meant to put Country first.
Thanks, Loretta.
Your father’s letter . . . I am in grateful tears. Oh, that it could be read and understood by younger generations. Thank you.
I am going to send it to my 28-year-old son…his grandpa that he never got to meet.
Thanks for sharing your father’s letter. It brought tears to my eyes. My father was a B-17 navigator stationed in England during WWII. He completed 25 missions in Germany and returned home with a Purple Heart. He didn’t talk about it much to his four daughters. Truly the greatest generation.
Wow…your father was a hero, Janice!
Thank you for sharing your beloved Dad’s letter. It is so ironic that he passed away on the anniversary of D Day. I live in Canada and my grandfather was a pilot in WWII but he never made it back. He was shot down over France. My mother was a wee baby at the time, he only held her once. HIs loss set her life on a trajectory that our entire family would struggle to recover from. I often think of him and wonder how different our lives (Mom’s life!) would be if he had come home from the war.
Oh wow…that is so heartbreaking. But you know your grandfather was one of the Good Guys!
Thank you so much for sharing your father’s wonderful letter. We visited Normandy a few years ago and I was captivated by all of it, but especially by a tiny church two young (19 and 20 years old) American medics turned into an aid station. We think of WWII as huge battles and bombs dropping from planes, but it’s really millions of personal stories.
Yes, I think so too, Janet. Great story about the church/medic station!!
thank you for sharing the memorable letter from your father. we were there in 2019 and it is an indescribable feeling . we are so grateful for those as your father who served. my mother’s cousin followed your father with the tanks. he is buried closer to the German boarder.
your parents sound very special. my condolences on the loss of your mother to you, your sister, & family. you were blessed.
Thank you so much for this comment. Brings tears to my eyes. We are blessed!
Thank you for sharing your father’s letter. We owe so much to men like him.
Yes, Brenda. I was hesitatant to publish it but I’m glad now.
What a beautiful letter that your father wrote and such a treasure for you to have still. My father also served and was deeply affected by the war. He was an 18-year-old preacher’s kid from Tennessee, a gunner in the Army Air Corp. I wonder what the two of them would think if they could see their country today, so polarized, so divided, seemingly irreconcilable. It saddens me beyond belief.
Hacks and Mare of Easttown are wonderful diversions. Jean Smart is amazing in both.
I forgot that Jean Smart is in both television shows!!!! She plays such different characters.
Thank you for sharing your fathers letter. I found it to be full of hope – he was so young but seemed to have a wise perspective on the war.
My father fought in the Korean War but fortunately he tail end. He saw very little combat.
My son visited Normandy while studying abroad and he said it was very surreal to stand there knowing what happened so many years before. I just think if those young men and how frightening it must have been.
I was really moved by your fathers patriotism and his typing skills!!
Thanks, Amy. My dad did say that they rallied the troops to gear them up for D-day. Almost like a high school pep rally…which reminded me of how young they were. And hey! Dad was a pretty good typist!
Thank you for sharing. My father served in Germany and France during WWll. We should never forget the sacrifices that these men made for our freedom.
Kindest regards, Peggy
I know, Peggy. My father never talked much about it. Did yours?
Mary Ann, I just saw your comment and those of others whose fathers returned home, but didn’t talk about their experiences. My father, too, did not talk about it either. After seeing so many comments that this apparently was common, I can’t help wonder if the US had mental health services then, would it have made a difference to those who were lucky enough to return home.
That is interesting, Cheryl. I bet they didn’t. He would talk to my Uncle Frank (who had been a prisoner of war) after a few drinks when they didn’t think anyone was listening. Dad had some good memories too…like he always loved French food.
Thank you for sharing your father’s beautiful letter… I appreciate his willingness to fight for our freedom and his obvious faith in God!!
Thank you, Donna. He was a good man and a great father.
I think your Dad just wanted to check on his men one last time, the day he died. So glad you had your Mom go to France with your family, so she could share some of the same culture he experienced.
Thanks for sharing your Father’s letter.
Thanks, Meredith, for your faithful readership. I’d give you a hug!