Dart begins the first of his two letters in the early morning hours, before Christmas has dawned in Cleveland. He’s a lonely man, even while surrounded by his parents and extended family. “As I sit here guzzling my Pepsi, I think how nice it would be if you were sitting here doing the same thing. And neither of us doing any writing. It’s nice to be home, but it sure is lonely without you, Dot.”
He tells Dot about his day which mostly consisted of him and Pop running last minute errands. They picked up a turkey, did some banking, bought Dart’s train ticket and finished some last minute shopping. In the evening, he visited with some cousins and their children, as always impressed by the sharp and delightful little girls named Carolyn and Martha.
Whenever he speaks with family or friends, everyone asks about Dot. He’s pleased she’s so popular with everyone he knows.
Back at home, the small group decided to open a couple of gifts before retiring for the night. Dart was very disappointed that the dresser set he gave his mother was already broken when she opened it. He was happy to get a letter today, sent from Kent before Dot left campus.
“Just 48 hours ago, we were doing what I’d like to spend the rest of my life doing with you, right here, at this end of the davenport. I’m too lonesome to say much more. I love you.”
Almost 24 hours later, he finished the day as he had started it – writing to Dot. He’s just returned from a late night drive after the rain had washed away a good bit of snow. When the roads started to ice over, he came home.
His cousin Jim and his wife Dot Peterson stopped by today to give Dart a small pocket slide-rule, just perfect for using on board ship. “Maybe you should use one of those things for Physical Science. It’s hardly worth the effort, though, for you to learn how to use it. They’re nice to use if you’re going to multiply a lot. (Not like rabbits, though.)”
This evening, he visited his mother’s siblings, collectively known as “The Burkes.” He and his mom also visited at Edie’s home (his brother’s girlfriend.)
Telling Dot that all her presents are under the tree, just as though she were there, he gave her a run down of what everyone received from whom. Everyone seemed pleased with their haul.
“Your B.F. has all the makings of a nice illness right now. Sore throat, dose stobbed ub, and so forth. I hope I can shake it before I start that long train trip back to the Sunny (?) South.”
He was so happy to get her phone call today, and wants her to thank her father for arranging it. He was anxious to hear about her train trip and he was glad to hear about all the fun at the Chamberlain’s house. Why did her mother think she would stay in Cleveland over the holiday? He knows she was happy to miss her dentist appointment.
His mother heard them when they went to bed late one night, but appreciated their efforts to be quiet. He’s embarrassed and ashamed that he kept falling asleep that one night, but when they fell asleep at the same time, it was a wonderful feeling. “How can you be so trusting, so loyal and so lovely? That night was one I’ll remember for a long time.”
The next paragraph is a bit cryptic, but I think it refers to another conversation they had about Dot’s period. She was vexed most of her young adult life by extremely painful cramps. Dart seems amazed that, in spite of all that, she is so athletic and active.
He’s torn between staying up and writing to her all night, but the cold is driving him to his warm bed. “Goodnight, Dot. Life around here is as lonely as can be without you. How I’ll ever shake this “homesickness” and live a few more months without you is beyond my comprehension. I love you. I work, pray and hope for you. I adore you with all the love and tenderness it’s possible for my long frame to carry.”
Dot begins with “Merry Christmas, Darling. Think that by two Christmases from now we’ll be able to roll over in bed on Christmas morning and wish each other season’s greetings? Maybe you can wait longer than that, but I know I can’t. I found that out Saturday night when both of us came too close to doing something we shouldn’t. I miss you so much already it hardly seems bearable. Gee, but I love you!! (To be read the way I say it when I put in lots of oomph.)
She tells him her favorite present was hearing his voice, especially when he said what he usually doesn’t say when his parents are near. But she got lots of other great gifts, too. She loves the perfect green sweater from Dart, and all the other sweaters, blouses, robes, slips, mittens, etc. that she received. What seems to give her a big thrill, however, was the loot that the two of them received for their future home; table linens, cocktail glasses, towels, etc. “By two years from now – if business keeps progressing this way – we’ll have all but the shell of a house.”
She surmises that Santa Claus had to skip everyone else’s house this year because it took him at least 10 hours to unload the stuff at the Chamberlain house.
Since the last time Dart and Dot saw that house, Arthur Chamberlain has been doing lots of work around the place. He began by removing some giant iron structure from the kitchen, creating usable space that is now occupied by “the Bendix.” I have no idea what a Bendix is, but maybe Mom can enlighten me. Also, Arthur has completely renovated the dining room from floor to ceiling, and it’s beautiful. Bear in mind, the Chamberlains didn’t own this big Victorian they lived in. They are simply long-time renters, but they treat the place as though it were their own.
Yesterday, Dot had a chance to see one of those whiz-bang CO2 fire extinguishers in action. She was driving the family car, Pegasus” over to Cynthia’s house when a policeman yelled at her that the car was on fire! Apparently, some grease from the brakes ignited and set a battery cable on fire. The cop yelled at her to get out of the car before it blew up. “Believe me, I didn’t have to be told twice. I was out of that car and a block away before I even thought about it.” Within minutes, two fire trucks arrived and a hundred people surrounded Dot and told her not to be scared. As soon as she saw how small the flames were, she wasn’t the least bit scared. She watched as the firemen yanked up the floor boards and sprayed the flames with the CO2. She was so interested to see the process that Dart had described, that the fireman asked her if she knew what she was seeing. She told him everything Dart had explained about the process and the guy was stunned that a girl would know anything about it. He was so impressed that he asked if she’d like to use it, so she did!. “More fun. It kinda made the sound like a radio station when you turn the dial.” (Now that’s another reference that today’s youth would not recognize. They’ve never tuned a radio with anything but digitally set push buttons.)
She says all the excitement made for a nice homecoming. “Nothing like bringing out an ‘old flame’ when you come back to town.”
Not all the Chamberlains came to dinner today, but the ones who didn’t stopped by the house at some point during the day. She’d intended to get a Round Robin letter started for Dart, but the day was hectic from start to finish.
When she got to town there were 14 cards waiting for her, plus two letters from Dart. One of those had been forwarded from Kent, so she and Dart have discussed nearly everything in it. With that, she pauses for a night’s sleep and picks up the letter the next day.
This morning she had an appointment with Dr. Howgate. The last time she went there, Dart left her alone and went out with Dot’s mother to purchase a certain little trinket called an engagement ring. The doctor says Dot’s wisdom teeth are coming in and she surely hopes they live up to their name because she could use all the wisdom she can get.
The mother of her old friend Nancy Clapp called to invite Dot to a surprise birthday party for Nancy tomorrow. Nan only gets the evening off from nursing school, so the girls will take her over to Stamford to see “The Bells of St. Mary.”
“All my relatives (‘our’ relatives) have asked to be remembered to you. They can’t get over how thoughtful it was for you to send them Christmas cards and they appreciate it. Someday they’ll realize I’m not just talking to hear myself talk when I tell them how wonderful, considerate and thoughtful you are. They’re so stunned that in spite of all these good traits, you still picked me for your future wife.”
Today’s mail brought her the letter he wrote the day she left Cleveland. She hopes he wasn’t as worried about her trip as he sounded in the letter. It was quite bearable, although she has no desire to be repeating it in a couple of days. She assumes he’s on the train now, too. She hopes he’s sleeping peacefully. She loves watching him sleep because he looks so peaceful.
“Goodnight, my Darling Dart. I have no fear after last Saturday that we will ever have any trouble about anything after we’re married. We love each other too much.”
The next time we hear from either of these young people will be December 28. See you then.
