Dart’s offering today is quick and upbeat. He will “stooge” for the Red Cross New Year’s Eve party tonight. There is a new case like his on the ward. Dot’s photo has brought plenty of favorable comments. And he tells a humorous story about a couple of corpsmen on his unit.

This long letter from Dot straddles midnight and ends up in the new year. She tries to match the silliness of Dart’s nonsensical letter as she attempts to fill 10 pages. She describes another of her detailed dreams in which Dart shows up at her house in Greenwich and immediately falls for her married sister, Harriet.

She tells Dart what each of her family members is doing while she babysits and listens to the hit songs on the radio. Each song reminds her of either herself or Dart. Funny how that happens whe you’re in love. She begins to daydream that she’s dancing with Dart to the tune of “Blue Danube.” She reminds him that he better be careful because 1944 is Leap Year and when she sees him in person, she’ll “take advantage of it.” I assume that refers to the old tradition that a woman could ask a man to marry her during Leap Year. She’s getting pretty bold…on paper, anyway!

With more than a sprinkling of sarcasm, she pauses to await midnight, where she imagines kissing the boy of her dreams. Instead, she admits that she’ll call her folks to wish them Happy New Year, and in hanging up the phone, her festivities will be over.

She goes back over the letters she’s received from Dart to make sure she’s answered all his questions. She again wishes him a speedy recovery (Seriously, isn’t it already too late for “speedy?”) I like it when she tells him there are certain passages in his letters that give her a special thrill because she can hear him saying the words.

I am especially moved by her wishes for a victorious New Year. That must have been a prayer on the lips of millions around the world that night. If only it might have happened that soon!