Dart is overwhelmed by a deluge of letters – a pile so huge he claims he can barely climb over them on his way to dinner. When the mail lull is over, it’s over in a big way!
Included in one of the many letters from Dot was a full-length photo of her in her Easter garb, including the corsage sent by Dart. She looks beautiful and he loves the photo. He makes a nice comment about her hat and surmises that it matches her scarf. (Black and white photo, you know.) “I think you have good taste in clothes, Dot. You wear them well, too. Another of the ‘reasons’ you asked for a week or so ago.”
Her letters, as well as those from his Mom and Pop, describe the national feeling at the death of FDR. He hopes the apathy with which they heard the news at sea is not permanent. “To be sure, we all felt bereaved and profoundly sorry to lose our Chief, but work went on as usual. I’m sorry he couldn’t have lived to see V-E Day and the V-J Day of the future.” It struck me in this paragraph that FDR was somewhat akin to a modern-day Moses as he lead his people against a terrible scurge, yet didn’t live long enough to enter the Promised Land himself.
Dart will speak to his crewmate Hal Martin about Sunapee locations. He’s already sold on the idea of this place he hasn’t seen as the ideal honeymoon spot – on the condition that Dot is the other half of the couple. He’d also like a chance to scope out the scene before they’re married.
He liked her description of the place she and Nancy found for their picnic on April 14. He’d like to have a picnic with her sometime at that very spot. “Until then, Darling, I’ll walk alone. The time must come sometime when we can be together again for a while. The time after that, I hope and pray, will be permanent.”
He likes to hear about her driving practice and hopes she gets her license for her birthday. “Isn’t it fun, once you get over being scared? I love to drive.” Both of my parents were excellent drives, and loved to do it, a trait they passed on to all their children.
Addressing some more of her news from the letters, he says he’d love to see “National Velvet” and he wants to hear her sing in the church choir. “Ge whiz, Dot. It’ll take forever (I hope) for us to do all the things we want to.”
He talks about her suggestion that they could go to school and work while they’re married. He says he’d like to have a long conversation about that with her. He knows it’s possible, but it’s also hard work and a big strain. He thinks they could do it.
There follows a sweet, tender paragraph that underscores the youth of these two kids in love. “What’s this about your being glad I’m not smart about something? If it’s what I think it is, you’re right, and I’ll wait till I can learn what it is, and all about it, from you. That’s what I’ve wanted for a long, long time. Dot, we have everything to look forward to in our lives together.” Both of these young people are completely innocent in the art of love, yet each is confident they can discover all there is to know from each other.
