Finding Bill

the long version

As a child growing up on a farm in Eastern Ontario, Henrietta listened intently to dinner table stories about her parents' lives before and after WWII, so many fascinating tales of hardship, struggle and bravery as they persevered against all odds. And she never tired of the accounts of the family legend, Bill O'Neill, a Canadian soldier who briefly stayed in her parents' tiny home in Holland during the war. Impressed by his kindness and evident bravery and sacrifice, her parents gave him a copy of their wedding portrait so he would always remember them. This chance encounter contributed to her parents' decision to move to Canada. Henrietta certainly never forgot; Bill O'Neill had virtually permeated her subsconscious. In fact, when she became a young woman living in Canada and met a man with the same surname as O'Neill, she couldn't help but wonder if her instant attraction was partly for that reason. After marying and raising her own children, Henrietta couldn't wait any longer: the time had come to find Bill O'Neill and tell him of his legacy - before it was too late.