Letters of Love
GROVE CITY — When Joseph "Skip" Skibinski died in November, his family members were naturally left feeling empty, looking for a way to cope with their loss. It was through their pain that the book, "Softside," came to be.
When he was dying, Skibinski's son, Joe, and his daughter, Audrey Murphy, uncovered dozens of letters written to their mother, Josie, who died in 1980, when she was just 58.
Joe, the principal at Grove City High School, decided to compile all of those letters into a book to commemorate his parents.
"It was an interesting experience discovering those letters and reading through them," Joe said. "It was interesting finding out about his courtship with my mother and his time spent serving his country."
"It gave the perspective of them not being parents, but young people in love," said Murphy, who lives in Seattle. "I mean, when you're growing up you know they love each other, but to actually see them falling in love is an interesting dynamic."
Serving in Army's 176th Infantry Service Unit, 29th Division, Joseph Skibinski spent much of his free time writing to his sweetheart back in the states, showing a personality that his children never knew until 60 years later.
"He was very gruff and those letters showed a side of him I never knew about," his son said. "His letters showed the intensity of his relationship with my mother and his ability to express his emotions through writing.
"(The letters also) gave the perspective of them not being parents, but young people in love," said Audrey Murphy, who lives in Seattle, Wash. "I mean when you're growing up you know they love each other, but to actually see them falling in love is an interesting dynamic."
The letters detail every emotion experienced by those living in a time of war. That's the reason Joe feels anyone can relate to the novel.
"This is a primary source document," Joe said about the novel. "I'm sure anyone who reads it can see, anyone who has had family spend time in the military can see by looking at the letters, even though they are about someone else, you can appreciate anyone who has served the country and you can see how people deal with distance, time and separation from home."
To Audrey, at first, the idea for the novel seemed a little personal, but now she feels the book could be considered a gift for the family and for the public.
"It's a wonderful gift they have given us," she said. "I think it shows people the value of keeping that kind of correspondence because it really is so valuable. It's something we treasure and something our children treasure."
For Joe, compiling the letters gave him the opportunity to find out more about his father's life through his writing and through speaking with his father's friends.
"Finding these letters in my mother's cedar chest inspired me to find out more about the man I thought I knew," Skibinski wrote in the foreword of the novel. His mother died in 1980 at age 58.
Joe visited some of the friends his father mentioned in the letters. Through those friends, Joe continued to learn more about his father's life during World War II."Former co-pilot Dick Richards and I talked on the telephone for an hour or so," Skibinski writes in the novel."I was elated to find a link to my father's past; someone who would share with me memories of the man I thought I knew."Richards told Joe that his father flew the plane Peasapis with him on D-Day and their 65 combat missions were flown on a plane named the Pistol Packin' Mama.Joe said the former co-pilot also recounted how he and Joe's father earned the Distinguished Flying Cross by crawling into the open bomb bay to dislodge the jammed bombs over open air.Richards said Joe's father also had his less serious side."Dick said that my father was always the jokester, trying to have fun amidst the seriousness of the war," Joe wrote."Perhaps these are the stories that my father wanted to share. At the end of our first phone conversation, I told Dick that I know somehow, somewhere, my father knew we were having this talk. It was a 'reunion' that he should have had with Dick that didn't happen in his lifetime but will occur in the 'wild blue yonder.'"Until that happens, Richards and all those who knew Skibinski can relive his life filled with romance, family, pride and dedication through his words, compiled in the novel written to commemorate him."Softside," published by Ardvark Publishers, is available on Amazon.com.
