Ah! Another cheerful letter from Dart. He teases Dot in the first paragraph by telling her there’s good news waiting at the end of the letter.
He is proud of her chemistry grade and says he had more faith in her than she did in herself. I think that’ll become a common theme between these two. He wishes her a speedy recovery from the cold and hopes the Andrews School’s cold epidemic does not become like the flu epidemic that has Chicago in it’s grips.
Referring to the wedding cake/dream story she told, he says, “Fine thing – drawing a blank on the night you should dream (of me?) Whatever you do, don’t dream of wishing to be an old maid. That’s a terrible thing for a pretty girl like you to think. I don’t have much desire to be a bachelor, but several people have predicted I’ll be one.”
Eventually, he gets to his good news. The doctor, still unsure of whether or not he’ll need more surgery, nonetheless gave him permission today to get up for a few minutes. “Boy, people are shaky after 20 days in bed!” Can you imagine anything short of a deep vegetative state that would keep any patient in bed for that long these days? They have today’s patients up and walking mere hours after joint replacement or heart surgery. No lolligagging around in the sack for modern man!
Take a look at the cute illustrations on the top of her new stationary and the captions Dot adds. She senses Dart’s not feeling well and promises to keep up her prayers for his recovery for as long as necessary.
She received her train tickets for her Christmas trip to Connecticut and is counting down the days (20). She thanks Dart for the snapshot he sent – the one where he looks so tall – and says she hopes that is not the last one she’ll receive. And she tells about a two-hour exam she took today – a test required for anyone wanting to attend Ohio State. She ends that piece with a typically dismissive, “Oh well, I didn’t want to got to Ohio State anyway.”
The juiciest news in this letter is the part about her recent dream – with the wedding cake still under her pillow. Her good friend Columbia told her she was definitely dreaming about Dart. I’ll let you read the letter and decide for yourself. I’m happy to say that Dot and Columbia are still close friends today.
She talks a little about her roommate Andy and, again cautions Dart not to write unless he feels up to it. As much as she likes his letters, she wants him to recover so she might get to see him sooner.
She signs off after an intriguing final paragraph. “Having a very dull time – wish you were here to brighten it up a bit. Say, remind me to tell you something in about 6 years. You’ll die laughing.”
