Before Darrow Beaton passed away from lung cancer in 2008, he sent his eldest daughter, Jane Bartow of Tucson, Arizona, four boxes of family photos. But the boxes contained much more than just pictures. To Jane’s surprise, when she pulled out the photos she found over 1,000 pages of love letters that were exchanged between her father and her mother, Elinor Landgrebe Beaton, from December 1941 to November 1945.

Darrow and Elinor Beaton More

Knowing her dad was a private man who neverspoke about his experience during World War II, she believes that he did not mean to include the letters. Jane told KVOA News 4 Tucson that it was special, "To know my dad at this age, and to see what he was like and how hopeful he was.”

Darrow Beaton was a radio operator in the Merchant Marines during World War II. More

The unintentional gift allowed Jane to learn so much about things that were never discussed, like her parent’s love story, her family history and far more about the world at that time. She said, "I learned so much about the war. I learned how tough it was. I learned how hard it was for these men, and how lonesome it was for them, but I also learned how tough it was on the women. It was like their lives stopped because all of the young men were gone."

Darrow and Elinor Beaton exchanged over 1,000 pages of love letters during WWII More

The letters inspired Jane to self-publish a book to tell her parent’s story titled, To Elinor: A Romance in Two Voices. In the book, Jane explains that her father, a radio operator in the Merchant Marines, fell in love with her mother at first sight and pursued her with his letters from the war. Jane said that her mother Elinor was a spirited woman who had dreams of becoming, “something big,” during a time that traditional roles of women were changing.