56

The Book of Summer

Ruby Young Packard

June 6, 1944

Cliff House, Sconset, Nantucket Island

“Under the command of General Eisenhower, Allied naval forces, supported by strong air forces, began landing Allied armies this morning on the northern coast of France.”

That’s the news from the front lines today. The allies have initiated a large-scale attack, the end game the liberation of a continent. I’ve had the radio blasting all morning, waiting for news, listening to FDR ask the nation to join him in prayer.

I’ve put off food shopping for the past three days and paid the price by having to venture to the market today. At every turn people were deadly silent. What to make of this attack? We are liberating people but we’ll lose so many along the way. As we passed each other, we exchanged glances of compassion, acknowledgment that on this day we all share the same mind.

How many men will perish? I’ve already lost one brother in this war, one brother by accident, and two babies, both male, by chance. A woman should never talk about dead babies in polite company but it is so very hard to forget them. Together these losses tell me one thing. This world is no longer safe for men.

As I write, I think of the sign in town. France: 3,000 miles. France. The beaches of Normandy. A hopeless journey. A lifetime away.

With a heavy heart,

Most sincerely,

Ruby Packard