A Rose for Raymonde

Here, then, I offer the account of a pair of life streams that merged: my own and that of Miss Raymonde van Laar, the beautiful and courageous lady I married, and who is my great true love.” So begins A Rose for Raymonde, the true story of a young Swiss nurse who immigrated to the United States and found love with a U.S. Navy Reserve officer in 1950’s New York. Complete with photographs and personal letters, this book chronicles their lives before their paths crossed, and after. When they met, Wade was an Annapolis and North Carolina State College graduate preparing for active duty in the Navy Reserve; Raymonde had grown up in Switzerland and France and endured the fear and privations of German occupation during World War II. The two fell in love, married and built a life together, riding out the 20th century in pursuit of their own version of the American dream. Written by Raymonde’s husband of fifty-five years, A Rose for Raymonde is a tribute, a history and a love story of the sweetest, simplest kind. It’s a heartening reminder that true love is out there and that, once found, it can last a lifetime and longer.