Two letters from Dot make Dart a happy boy, in spite of being cheated out of half his liberty. The ship had some dock trials today that caused a massive power failure on board and a delay in starting liberties.
While in town, he selected a pose for his portraits. He’s had two sent to Dot (to be shared with her parents.)
Yesterday, while walking across the deck, a large and evil seagull attacked him from out of nowhere with devastating results to his shirt. There was nothing to do but laugh at the situation, right along with all the guys who witnessed the dive-bombing, and all the guys they told.
He sure hopes his folks are right about an April discharge. He’s heard three different rumors, and only one of them is good news.
Isn’t it fun that both he and Dot wrote almost the same thing on nearly the same day – the thing about how youthful both sets of parents seem? I find that happens with surprising frequency, when they cover the same topics in letters that end up passing in the mail.
Does Dot remember hearing about Oliver, the torpedo man whose wife was injured in a crash of the Empire State Building elevator? He just read an article with an update that Betty may someday walk without the aid of crutches. She’s called the Sunshine Girl by hospital staff because of her indomitable spirit.
“Okay, lovesick sleepyhead. I’ll excuse you for once. But that three-pager surely didn’t seem as though it were written by a sleepyhead. Golly, I love you, Dot. …And stop passing out this borscht about you being a dumb female. You ain’t and you’ve proved it.”
He’d love to go “over the hill” and see her and his parents over the holidays. But he fears if he went over, he’d make a career of it and never come back. Better to hope the Navy sees fit to give him a two or three day pass so he can visit them legitimately. If they would be so kind, he’d feel obliged to return to duty.
He confesses that he’s sneaked by on lots of book reports, just as Dot planned to do after her hospital stay. Once, he found a condensed book by James Hilton, but later learned the condensed edition covered only about half the book. So, staying up until dawn to finish the real thing, he ended up comparing the two versions, and got an A on the report.
Gently, he wishes her luck on her theme, specifically that she’ll have no grammatical errors, and no misspellings, like using only one “m” in grammatical. (hint, hint)
He thinks Lyric runs about $22.00 per place setting.He’s only saved about $1.06 in pennies since leaving Norfolk, adding about six cents on each liberty. If only he had roommates who would add to his stash like Dot does. Still, he thinks Pop’s idea of using the pennies for their silver pattern is a good one. It looks like they’ve settled on the Lyric pattern.
A few letters ago, Dot wrote about her “dream man” before she met Dart. As it turned out, Dart has so many qualities that she could never have dreamed up that her former “dream man” pales by comparison to him. Dart says he could have written nearly the exact same paragraph about her. “There are so many traits that I overlooked in my dream girl that appear in you and that I like so very, very much. No one can dream up the countless little traits which endear you to me.”
Some of their long talks have dispelled some of his fears, but there’s still one that haunts him; the fear that he will someday inadvertently say or do something that would hurt Dot. “Oh, Darling, to hurt you now would be to kill me, or wish that it had. I love you. I’m proud of you. It’s the highest compliment to be loved by one like you. It seems too good to be true that we’re to be married. Maybe Heaven does exist on earth.”
“I love you for the things you are, the things you do, the things you write, the things you say. I love you for all you’ve been, done, written and said. I love you for the dreams we hold together, for the things we share. I love you for the prospect of being your husband, for making a home with you, for all that stands for.”
Dot spoke with a psychologist today to discuss the results of her psych testing that was done when she started at Kent. There was some good news and bad news. She starts with the bad: She’s emotionally unstable, too dependent on other people, and only of average intelligence (making her a bad match for Dart, she claims). I can’t imagine a 19-year old woman more emotionally stable than this one, so either she’s a bad test-taker, or it was a bad test! I also don’t get the “too dependent on others’ bit, unless that reflects her need to make other people happy. And phooey on the average intelligence thing. What kind of intelligence is that test measuring, anyway?
But, there’s good news, too: She’d make a good wife and mother,a good elementary school teacher, and she has marked musical ability. The doctor wants her to take more music aptitude tests, and thinks music will make her a more effective elementary teacher. “It was very interesting to talk with Dr.Boch, but it didn’t improve my ego any.”
She has not noticed a lack of humor in Dart’s letters – just maybe a different kind of humor. What she loves about his letters is that she can actually hear him saying the words that he writes – he writes exactly the way he talks.
She thought they agreed that she can squeeze harder than he does, but whoever is the best squeezer, they are in agreement that it’s much more enjoyable to squeeze something that squeezes back.
Does he like the little Christmas tree his parents sent? She found that while shopping in downtown Cleveland. The chocolate kisses are also from her, to hold him over until she can deliver the “real thing.”
Five of the 10 girls in her house are sick with the flu, so it’s been practically a clean sweep of their little corner of the world. How they can all get ready for exams under these conditions is anybody’s guess. But, her letters next week will be even shorter than her recent ones. There’s just not enough time between now and Christmas break to accomplish all that she must. “Still, my love for you will increase by leaps and bounds.”
She also included a list of addresses for her relatives so Dart can complete his Christmas cards.
