What a change in mood from yesterday’s letter! Dart received three letters from Dot today, held up by the postal service. She still loves him, and he is overjoyed. He calls the letters “thrilling, heart-warming love letters, newsy and humorous as well.”
He has serious doubts about how he’ll survive long days at sea without regular mail from her. He thrives on her letters as he thrives on memories of their time together and dreams of times in the future. He and Dot certainly strike similar themes, don’t they?
He’s delighted with his Christmas package, astounded by the assortment of candy bars that she managed to collect for him. He tells her they don’t even have that much selection at Ship’s Service these days. He used the ocarina today in an impromptu jam session with Lefty and Spiegler. He plans to keep the billfold, too. It’s the perfect thing to keep his pictures of her safely with him.
I’m not sure what she used, but he and his pals enjoyed the paper she wrapped the candy with. Dart says that Leffman and Spiegler copied the pictures with colored pencils to use in the future. It would be fun to see if Dot recalls what he’s talking about seven decades after the fact.
Among other letters, Dart got one from one of his Shaw buddies named Bob Braund from APO New York, containing a censor’s mark. Dart has no idea where he’s stationed overseas, but he’s happy to see this good guy received a promotion to corporal.
Dart asks Dot if she recalls a long time back when he first called her “darling” in a letter. Her response was not too positive, thinking it was too much, too soon and had a false ring to it for ones as young as they. He’s glad now that she had that reaction, because when they use it sparingly, it seems to have much more meaning than it would have otherwise. Speaking of terms of address, he hopes she notices how seldom he calls her “Dorothy.” He’s still quite fond of the name, ever since he was a small boy and dreamed he’d marry a girl by that name. “Now that I’ve fallen in love with a Dorothy, that dream seems like a prediction of things to come. At least I hope that it’ll come true.”
As he does with increasing frequency now, he falls into a lovely reverie of their last night together in Cleveland. He recalls that they didn’t say much, just sat holding hands, and kissing occasionally. That’s when Dot told him that he needn’t ask her permission to kiss her any more because she had no plans to be kissing anyone else. He recalls the sensation of her in his arms, her head resting on his shoulder. She didn’t say much, but everything she said thrilled him to his core and made him feel happier than he’d ever been.
He covers familiar ground on Memory Lane as he remembers the look on her face when she threw water on him, how eager she was to help him with his trains, how dirty her knees got from the shabby old rug in the living room. He was not able to look at her for very long without his eyes clouding up and without the fear that she’d dissolve into thin air like most beautiful visions.
Returning to her recent letter, he’s happy that the “nunny” feeling she gets when she hears beautiful music in church vanishes as soon as she leaves the building. He’d hate to be in love with a nun, and whoever heard of a Congregational nun anyway? Like her, he also experiences the odd looks from strangers when they catch him with a goofy smile as he thinks of her. “I guess we’re nuts, but ain’t it fun?”
Sadly, he admits they must abandon hope that he’ll be at her graduation. The Navy is a cruel master.
Because she often writes to him “after bedtime,” he asks if she has a regular bedtime. He tells her that the guys all think she’s too clever for Dart because her letters are so amusing.
Before stopping to write to his mom and pop, he takes a quick break to look at photos of other guys’ girls. He saw some cute tricks and sharp numbers, but none appeal to him as much as Dot does. He’s so glad she’s “spoken for” by him.
Dot’s letter must be short because she’s living in a Christmas rush. Home is hardly less hectic than the store.
Today brought a very long letter from Gordon. He told the family not to feel sorry for him on Christmas because he’ll be spending the day thinking about last Christmas when his whole family was together, so he’ll be happy. Dot teared up a little when he asked his sisters to think of him when they sneak downstairs before their parents are up to open their first present.
