A special donation is being made today to the Rooms of a series of letters that tell a story of resilience, bravery and a budding and enduring romance.
Karen Lundy’s parents started writing to each other not long after her father, Vern Ploughman of Bay Roberts, left for overseas to serve in WWII.
Her mother, Lillian Wenman of Toronto, was urged to write to Vern by a neighbour who thought the two might get along.
Karen Lundy says while her mother’s letters to her father were destroyed during battle, all of her father’s letters back to Lillian, also known as “Billie”, were kept. She says they were cordial and reserved at first, but over time, it became apparent that the two pen pals were forming a bond.
Ploughman and Wenman’s First Letter
Lundy says the letters allow the reader to watch the romance evolve.
By the time Ploughman was wounded in battle and recovering in hospital in England, it was clear that Wenman was already thinking about becoming his wife.
Lundy used the letters as the basis of her Flanker Press book “Dear Billie—A WWII Love Story.” She is donating the letters to The Rooms today to allow future generations to understand the kind of experiences people of that era endured.
