Dart’s letter today says the “nice little letter” from Dot today “softened the aches of a working man.” He claims his correspondents have dwindled to her and his parents. “All the rest of the people I know are either forgetful, on vacation or ‘traveling in Europe or the Pacific.”

Commenting on El and Don’s engagement party, he writes “Here’s hoping your next engagement will last longer than the 3-minute interlude of last Friday night.” He asks her if she prefers a long or a short engagement, and adds, “I think three minutes is a wee bit too short. But it’s long enough for me when you’re engaged to someone else!”

He reports that he is getting well and strong, but it’s a slow process.

He tells her he loves her so much that the rest of their lives would not be long enough to spend together.

His final sentence has a note of hope and desperation. “I must get there to see you sometime before too long. There are so many ways to do it (legally), but I don’t think I stand a chance for any of them until I finish boot.”

Dot is cursing herself for hastily accepting a babysitting job after a long day at Franklin Simons. Oh, well. As she writes this letter it’s very late and nearly time for the parents to come home.

She writes that she is going to her cousin Jane’s high school graduation tomorrow night. Jane is the youngest of three sisters, and the recipient of a prestigious college scholarship.

She writes an amusing paragraph about learning to drive. She’s much kinder to the gears than she was on that date several months ago when Dart let her shift gears in his Dad’s old car. Lessons are going well, except when she got a trifle excited and ran into a stone wall! “Little damage to the car,” she writes, “but you ought to see that stone wall!” She hopes to get her license by her birthday next week.

Responding to Dart’s request for permission to kiss Miss Riehl, she asks why he needs permission. But she grants permission with a flip, “Sure, go ahead and kiss her. But why good-bye? Is she going somewhere?”

She asks the question I’ve been pondering – if they want Dart to get well, why are they working him so hard? She deems them “knuts!” She launches into a brief fantasy about his making it into the Special Devices division and being stationed in Boston. Quite a dreamer!

Dart begins his “wee note” by saying that everything near him is FUBAR – “Fouled up beyond all recognition.” He still doesn’t know when he’ll return to duty, but he’s trying to be prepared when the call comes.

He has his uniform ready, his personal effects are nearly packed, and he’s done a little shopping while on his one-day pass off the ward.

One of the items he bought is on it’s way to Greenwich, carrying all his wishes for Dot on her 18th birthday, and all his gratitude for what she has become to him.

He mentions that today is his parents 24th anniversary. He was going to call them, but their recent letter said they’d be spending the day downtown watching a parade (Flag Day?) and doing some mild celebrating.

His final line is, as always, a sweet one. “Tonight I can’t find words to describe my love for you, but maybe my birthday present will speak for me.”

Once again, Dot begins her letter with an apology for never having time to write. I marvel how much she squeezes into a single day – every day of the week!

Tonight she went solo to a movie “His Butler’s Sister,” starring Deanna Durbin. She was so taken by the beauty and talent of young Deanna and she seems to feel totally lacking in both. She realizes that statement might make one think she was fishing for compliments, but she says she wasn’t, so Dart must not make any comments.

She says the movie got her to thinking about a lot of things. Are real people ever truly as happy and in love as they seem in movies? When setting goals in life, does setting very high standards make one happy for every achievement made toward that goal? Conversely, do folks who set low goals become dissatisfied and unhappy because there is nothing left to work for? “Better I should stop rambling on about something  I know little or nothing about,” she says.

She writes that her cousin Jane is giving her a birthday party on Friday night. Jane has a surprise up her sleeve. Dot hopes it’s a trip to Playland, which she says is like Euclid Beach in Cleveland, except bigger and better.

She tells Dart she shares his hope that they will see each other soon. She’s waited seven months, but if she had to, she’d wait seven years, because she loves him that much.

Dart’s long letter shared some impressive news with Dot. The results of his skills, knowledge and aptitude tests are in, and they are stellar! He scored in the upper 5% of all the men in the Navy and is eligible for nearly any naval job he wants. (Not aviation because of his height, or officer’s training for the present time because of the 8″ scar on his back.) The special devices school he’s been dreaming of has been deemed beneath his skills and abilities.

He describes the four programs for which he’s been recommended, and his thoughts on each of them. Radio school doesn’t interest him in the slightest, so he passed on that invitation. He also rejected Quartermaster because it comes with a 100% guarantee of sea duty, which he’s not terribly keen on. His first choice was Fire Control, which deals with the sensitive computing and control equipment that regulates the firing of the large and complicated guns on various ships. There is a 50/50 chance of sea duty. Shore duty would involve maintaining the equipment or teaching about it, either stateside or overseas. That’s his first choice. Now he must await his assignment by the placement committee when he leaves Great Lakes.

“Boy! Do I feel important! I hope it doesn’t show. The interviewer said they very seldom run across men like me. Miss, get me a size 15 hat, please!”

He has signed up for his round-trip tickets to Cleveland, with only eight days left at his current location. He suggests that as of June 23, Dot begin addressing her letters to his parents’ home.

He closes the letter by saying “I love you very much, even if all this sounds like I love only me.”

I’m so glad he felt he could “toot his own horn” to someone so openly. Test results like his are truly something to take pride in. Congratulations, Dart. (Be sure to check out his drawing on page 6.)

Under the date, with tongue-in-cheek drama, Dot writes “Today I am a woman.” Naturally, the opening paragraph is an apology for being too busy to write.

Her birthday surprise, ala cousin Jane was to meet El and Jane’s sister Betty in NYC for an evening at Radio City Music Hall. The “miraculous” stage show included the Rockettes, the ballet and the Dan Cassack choir. Dot says the latter was the best choral music she’s heard in “all my 18 years.”

The  live show was followed by the film “White Cliffs of Dover,” with Irene Dunn and Alan Marshall. The movie was heartbreaking, but beautifully acted with a compelling plot. Dot claims she would have been able to keep the tears inside, had she not noticed a grown man nearby pull a tissue out and wipe his eyes. “That really got me, and I stayed ‘got’ for the rest of the picture!”

Following the show, this group of young women had dinner at Howard Johnson’s in New York. It’s been eight months since Dot ate at a HJ, that time in Cleveland with Dart.

Last night, her family celebrated Father’s Day and her birthday by seeing “Buffalo Bill” in Technicolor. When they returned home around 11:45, her folks gave her a large wrapped box and made her wait until midnight to open it. It was a heavenly Zenith portable radio with beautiful tone and small enough to carry from room to room. She’s delighted and can’t wait to show it to Dart.

She has earned a ticket to the War Bonds show coming to Greenwich, which she plans to attend. It starts at 8:30 PM and goes until 3:00 AM, but she’ll be there for part of it.

She’s thrilled that Dart is returning to boot camp and remarks that nothing can stop him now. “The best isn’t good enough for you, but that’s the best they can give you.” She tells him her love for him is so deep it makes the Pacific Ocean look like a puddle.

Up until now, it seems that Dart’s boot camp has consisted primarily of marching, cleaning and painting things. Now, he writes in great detail about the actual warship training he’s received. He describes the very complex system of relaying and receiving verbal orders on board ship during battle conditions. They used live ammunition in actual 20 mm anti-aircraft cannons while battle sounds were blasted into their brains via headsets. While it was a thrilling exercise, there were multiple opportunities for human error and Dart’s crew took full advantage of those to accidently “shoot down” a friendly aircraft.

Next, he learned about night spotting of ships on a dark horizon at sea. There’s a real trick to that, but Dart seemed to do okay with it.

Now, it’s back to cleaning in preparation for a quarters inspection in the morning. He’s in the mood to write more, but duty calls.

Dot’s note is a brief but enthusiastic thank you note for the beautiful locket Dart sent for her birthday. “I love them – both the giver and the gift – and shall cherish them close to my heart all of my life.” I remember that locket from my childhood,  still  containing the photos he’d placed there when he mailed it to her. Sadly, it was lost when someone broke into my parents’ home and stole Mom’s jewelery box. None of the items there had any real value to the thief, but held great sentimental value for Dot. I still feel a sad little pang when I think of that senseless break-in.

She’s overjoyed to hear that his leave is coming up so quickly, but she’s kicking herself for not staying in Cleveland to get a job. She reminds him that if his family wants to get rid of him before his leave is up (unlikely!), he’d be welcomed in Greenwich with open arms. By the way, the key is under the mat, but the door is never locked. (Ah, the simplier times!)

A very hurried note from Dart tells of receiving a letter from Dot, forwarded from the hospital. He got a little thrill to see the stamp “transferred to duty” on the envelope.

He was required to get his hair cut before leave – a fate he’d been hoping to avoid by getting a real barber cut in the hospital, “But they’ve decided to mess us all up a little more.”

Throughout the day, Dart and company have had numerous uniform changes for the various duties they’ve encountered: Dungarees (when was the last time you heard that word?) for pre-dawn exercise, blues for chow, whites for inspection, dungarees again for work detail, whites for dinner and back into dungarees for haircuts. That seems rather inefficient to me, but the Navy has its own ways.

He has to hit the sack early for the 0500 “Hit the Deck” wake-up call.

Dot’s note equaled Dart’s in brevity today. She’s so happy he has only a week remaining until he’s in the loving embrace of his family. She offered the hopeful suggestion that he could travel to Cleveland via New York and be in Greenwich during her three-day break over July 4.

She was transferred to the first floor at Franklin Simons today to fill in a short staff. She’s not too keen on the idea and hopes it’s just temporary. She likes the merchandise upstairs better and has become friendly with the staff up there. Now she’s selling neckties and handkerchiefs and finds it dull.

She asks Dart to remember to give her regards to his family and tell them she’s envious of them. She also wants him to remember that she loves him.

There’s no letter from either of our lovebirds tomorrow, so I’ll see you back here on the 23rd.