When Lucy Walsh was seventeen, she was given sixty-three of the love letters her Grandfather Dale wrote her Grandmother Wanda while he was overseas in World War II. A dozen years later, life changing events compelled Lucy to fly from Los Angeles to tiny Newman, Illinois, to spend three days talking with Wanda for what would be their final conversations. What began for Lucy as asking about the letters, became an unexpected master class in truly living.
This is the story, much of it conveyed in Wanda's inimitable voice, of Wanda's ninety-seven-year-long life, encompassing everything from her English ancestors to the residents in her nursing home. Through Lucy's candid questions and Wanda's soulful stories, we are swept up into one family's legacy that transports readers right into their own experiences and memories of family.
When Lucy isn't talking with Wanda, she visits other relatives and her own memories: the many trips over the years to Illinois and her mother's family; growing up in Los Angeles with two fathers, one a rock star; becoming a performer herself. Inevitably, in her effort to understand where and who she comes from, it becomes the story of Lucy's life as well, to which all readers can relate to in their own search for Self.
We fall in love with the unforgettable Grandma Wanda Mae, as she shares insights and confessions with plenty of comedic relief amongst the pain; making us laugh so hard we cry, and cry so hard we come back around to laughter. This book is a treasure trove of all Wanda has to teach us about what it truly means to be deeply, imperfectly, gloriously human, at every age.