Today, Dart writes on beautiful new stationery – an early Christmas gift from his folks. It’s payday, and he must hurry if he wants to collect his fourteen bucks. In January it’ll go up a little bit and he doesn’t plan of spending as much, so he hopes to save up some cash.
The latest word on his cruise is that the Craig is slated to leave Charleston on January 7, arriving in San Diego on the January 25.
He received two letters from Dot today, but is still missing the one from November 30. He hopes she gets over that cold quickly. He’s getting one of his own and now he has to go outside and stand watch in 33 degree rain. “I’ll write when I get to the hospital,” he jests.
After leaving to collect his pay he writes, “There. I’m a capitalist again.”
He went into town last night looking for silverware. He learned that the Lyric pattern is made by Gorham. He was finally able to see a brochure with the picture, but has yet to see the real thing. It’s quite different from the sketch Dot made, but he likes the real design even better than her memory of it. His second choice would be “Orchid,” but he doesn’t know who makes that one.
He goes on for quite a few paragraphs about some house ideas he just found in “Life” magazine. Radiant heat, large picture window, and all sorts of new technology are what really turns his head.
She sure can dream up beautiful things, but a Christmas visit from Dart is one dream that can’t come true. It’s neither in the cards, nor in his budget. He’s sure there’s a note in his Navy file to the effect of “Give this guy every raw deal available in the Navy.”
It sounds from Dot’s letters that she and Ellie are becoming good friends. Naturally, he credits Dot’s natural friendliness for wearing the girl down. He likes being able to make a friend out of an unfriendly person.
Off he goes again on another topic: He likes her idea of their first night as husband and wife being equally foreign to both of them. He is so grateful that he didn’t fall for the talk during all those bull sessions about how much he was missing, how it was important to gain experience for the sake of his future wife. “When I think now of the great wrong I’d have done to you, and to both of us, if I’d done those things even before we met, it makes me very happy to have resisted such things.”
For more than a page, he discusses his loathing for the double standard that some men seem to impose on their wives. “I rebel at such smallness. Men claim to be the stronger sex. Let him prove it. Let him prove that he is strong of mind as well as muscle.” That’s our boy!
The decorations in her room sound nice and gaudy and cheerful. Charleston is all decked out in colored lights and he likes the results. Now, if would only snow a bit.
He trusts that the question mark she placed after “someday to be your favorite wife,” was just her kidding around. He too is tired of waiting, but he knows that they will because there is such a permanent reward awaiting them.
There were no letters from Dart to fill Dot’s time in the hospital today, but she got a letter from home with everyone’s Christmas wish lists. “Not that it’ll do any good to tell me. When I open my billfold lately, it just looks at me kinda queer and says, ‘Are you kidding?'”
Her ring is so sparkly today, as it so often is when she’s feeling poorly. She credits it for making her feel so much better today. In fact, the doctor says she’s never seen a patient who recovered from the flu as fast as Dot has. There’s a pretty good chance she’ll be able to leave the hospital tomorrow.
Dot is in a ward with three other girls, who have all heard all about Dart. “All the kids think you’re much too good looking for me. Therefore, I didn’t go into details (much) about how super you are in every other way, or they’d know you’re much too good for me.”
Right now, she should be studying science or English, but she’d rather write to Dart, so she continues with the letter, answering the last one of his that she’s received. She’s glad he likes “Lyric,” she thinks he should consider writing history books (in addition to the children’s stories she suggested yesterday?), and yes! She knows exactly what it would mean to be able to share a Pullman and still be accepted in polite society. Can’t happen soon enough to suit her!
They can consider both of their Christmas lists closed, but he should be warned that he should expect a mighty meager token of her affections. She has begun to notice that they don’t pay college girls very much these days. Speaking of college girls, she still finds it hard to believe that she is one. “What would you think of me if I didn’t finish college” Mom will be awfully disappointed if at least one of her children doesn’t graduate from college.”
Although there are no little men to roll up the hospital floors, there are nurses who come at 8:30 and turn out the lights. In fact, here comes one now. “Goodnight, my Darling. Sorry you can’t be here holding my hand, but knowing that someday you’ll be able to makes things almost bright again.”
Neither Dart nor Dot wrote on December 6, so I’ll return the day after tomorrow.
