What a fabulous letter from Dart. It is an impassioned, reasoned response to Dot’s “wondering” letter of a few days ago. Wondering if what they feel is real. Wondering if it will last. Dart is so thoughtful and articulate. When de describes what he feels for her and how that compares to his feelings in previous “relationships,” I think he is speaking a universal language. Anyone who has ever thought they were in love and then really was in love will recognize what he writes.
Dot’s letter begins with a humorous riff on her boring classes. She’s really quite the wit. Her second letter of the day is in response to the two she received from Dart in today’s mail. I had to smile at her lengthy description of Doug in answer to Dart’s inquiry. She talks about his appearance, the fact that she took him to the movies because that was her payment for losing a bet. She admits he was her “one and only” until Dart came along. She says she’s known him for quite some time and she reveals that he spends a lot of time at her house. She never actually says that Doug is her younger brother. What a little imp she is!
She tells him a little about the English sailors she helped her sister entertain and she mentioned how much she enjoyed the home cooked meals. She down plays her culinary skills, saying that “anyone can make fudge.” She confesses that she may have made her trip to the dentist sound a bit worse than it really was. And she admits that she was the writer of the poem she had included in a recent letter.
She “accepted” Dart’s suggestion for a bowling date and she wrote about how much she enjoyed the movie “Claudia.” She wrote that the film “struck me as not only a side-splitting comedy but also as something with a lot of sense in it. The character reminded Dot of a girl she knows – one that Dart might know as well. (Dot herself?)
She agrees with Dart that some superstitions are agreeable to her and mentions two recent “wish-bone” incidents when she “won” the biggest piece. She talks about her enjoyment of classical music (as well as jazz and swing) and then begs his forgiveness and closes the letter at 12:30 a.m.
Here’s a quick word on Dot’s behalf. I suspect that as she reads these letters all these decades after writing them, she might be a little embarrassed by some of the spelling and punctuation errors. Let me assure you that she could go through them now with a red pen and catch every single mistake or “typo.” She has a bright mind and excellent writing skills that certainly matured from her 17-year-old version. Sometimes I think her mind is firing so quickly as she writes these letters, that her pen simply gets ahead of her eyes.
