Their life story, told in their own words.

Chapter One

The porch on Wren Street

We lived in a narrow white house in Dayton, Ohio, with a porch that sagged in the middle. That porch was the whole world to me. My mother shelled peas there. My father read the paper there every evening, and nobody spoke until he had finished the sports page. On hot nights all four of us kids slept out there in a row, like sardines.

Chapter Two

Walt

I met Walt at the roller rink on Third Street. He couldn’t skate to save his life. He held on to the rail all night and kept telling me he was only resting. I thought he was the funniest boy I had ever met. When he was drafted in 1961, he wrote to me every single week. I still have every letter.

Chapter Three

June 2, 1962

It rained all morning, and my mother said that meant good luck. By the time we came out of St. Mary’s, the sun was out and everyone was throwing rice. Walt got a grain stuck in his ear and spent the whole party tilting his head. We had ham sandwiches and Aunt Ruth’s lemon cake in the church hall. It wasn’t fancy. It was perfect.

Chapter Four

Summers at the lake

Every July we packed the station wagon and drove up to Indian Lake. Walt fished off the dock before anyone else was awake. The twins lived in their sun hats and dug for treasure with a red bucket. I sat with my feet in the water and thought, this is it. This is the good part. I knew it even then.