Joan McSweeney

Forget-Me-Not Joan McSweeney

U. S. fighter pilot, Roger Atkins, who survives the German bombing in Bari, Italy, 1943, learns that the young widow, who captured his heart, did not. Joey, her son, is left an orphan in the battle-scarred city. Roger adopts him and brings him to the states. Roger is offered a high-profile job on The Las Vegas Strip and still plagued by the memories of his first love. In 1957, he is hospitalized with the effects of his war-related injuries and meets a sister in charge of the kitchen in a financially, struggling desert hospital. Can they turn her enterprise, baking healthy loaves of bread, into a successful venture before malicious gossip details the effort? Years later, Joey follows through and restores his father's honor. Many facts are true to the time period, others are rearranged for a more compelling read. FORGET-ME-NOT is loosely based on the folklore of Rose de Lima Hospital in Henderson, Nevada, during the 1950's.