Dart begins his letter with a statement that he is tired. It’s no wonder! Last night, a nurse asked him to help her make out 20 charts for her and the dear old Navy. Then, today, he was assigned to the galley crew with three of the other “up” patients. Tomorrow, when the three others return to active duty, he alone will be responsible for the ward’s chores. Again, I must say this is the craziest hospital rehab program I’ve ever heard of!

He comments that Dot’s recent airmail letter (remember those?) took just as long to get to him as regular mail letters do, so the extra expense was wasted.

He commented about her fascinating cousins, thinking they might not be too happy living in the Belgian Congo. His cousin Jessie was a nurse on the Firestone rubber tree plantation in Liberia where she met her husband, Gil. (I heard the story in my teens about how Jessie and Gil had a harrowing escape from the African continent, just ahead of the advancing Nazis.) Now, they are happily living in Costa Rica with their three little girls. Dart also comments on the similarities between himself and Dot’s cousin Waddy. “I hope you were thinking of me when you kissed him. Is it okay if I kiss Miss Dorothy Riehl, who reminds me of you, good-bye?”

He’s happy she liked the bracelet he made. She’s lucky she has such an easy name – unlike “Samantha” or “Elizabeth.” He thought he didn’t have enough time to finish it the way he wanted to, but he doubts anyone would notice the difference.

He pauses from responding to her letter to tell her how glad he is that he knows her and that she likes him so well. He knows he would have been much lonelier and sadder during these past many months were that not the case.

He knows she will be a popular draw to Eleanor and Don’s engagement party. If it were possible, he would happily travel the 1100 miles to see her at the big event.

He felt it fair to let her know that he occasionally copies a choice sentence from one of her letters to include in his letters to his parents. That’s a nice touch to allow them to get to know her a little better. With that, he reminds her that he loves her with all his heart and soul.

Dot is writing this letter in the wee hours of the morning. She is babysitting again and has opted to spend the night there. Her reason? So she won’t have any parents telling her it’s time to go to bed!

She writes that last week she was so happy, living on anticipation. By that I can only assume she meant that she thought Dart would be returning to, and finishing boot camp soon, and then getting his leave. Now, she says, she’s living on happy memories. She writes that every time she thinks of the loving thoughts he writes to her, and how he phrases them, she finds more thrills and meaning in them. She doesn’t know if God had a hand in their meeting, but “I think it a very good idea to put our trust in Him.”

She writes that there is another big sale at Franklin Simons next week, which she is dreading. If her fate were not still in the hands of Andrews School, who receives monthly reports from her employer, she would be tempted to pull a “Rip Van Winkle act,” and sleep in. Knowing this young lady’s strong work ethic, I seriously doubt she could bring herself to do that!

She’s dying to know what the Navy plans to do with Dart. She supposes it’s too much to hope for that he might end up closer to the east coast. She tells him if it takes ten years for her to be able to tell him to his face how much she loves him, he should not get discouraged. Nothing can ever change the fact that she does.