An Unexpected Coddiwomple: The Story of a Father's Sudden Death, a Box of WWII Letters, and a Daughter's Life Transformed

Coddiwomple (v.): To travel in a purposeful manner toward a vague, as-yet-unknown destination.

By the time Loretto discovered the cache of WWII letters, her father had been dead almost 50 years. She'd accepted she would never know him. That changed when she decided to type his 500+ letters for her siblings. With each letter she heard her father's voice. With each place she visited, each person she met, the 50 years without him melted away and the enduring gap that had opened between them when she was 4-years-old gradually began to close.

An Unexpected Coddiwomple takes you on a journey through a captivating collection of letters abundant with humor, intrigue, and romance, across the U.S., to the U.K., and back again. Learn from the pilot himself, "Big Sundin," what actually happened when he ditched Heavy Date in the North Sea in 1945, saving the lives of the entire crew. Had Big Sundin not executed a "perfect ditching," she and her 6 siblings would not have been born. Through her father's own words, Loretto uncovers truths about her parentage that were buried with him in 1965, revealing decades of mysteries that culminate with an invitation to Buckingham Palace. It's a story of family, duty, faith, and a life transformed. It's a story of love.