Dart was overjoyed to get a big stack of letters on his last day before leaving Charleston. He was especially glad the stack included two letters from “some girl named Dot who called me ‘Darling.’ I sort of liked it and hope she’ll go on calling me pretty things for as long as I know her. She’s lovely.”
This is a long letter that mostly covers topics they’ve previously addressed. The news on his travels is that they leave tomorrow and will take four or five days to get to Panama. The rumor is that they will stay a couple of days at each end of the canal, arriving in San Diego on February 3. He doubts she’ll have to wait more than two weeks for mail from him.
Just to see what civilian clothes might feel like again, he buttoned his dungaree shirt all the way up today. It felt strange and nearly choked him. Probably not enough to convince him to stay in Navy clothes any longer than absolutely necessary!
He appreciates her positive comments on his description of the Navy yard, and he was quite impressed with her description of the walk through a winter’s evening. He wonders if she’d like to work for him when he’s a writer. That winter walk reminded him of some of the car trips they’ve had taking her from Cleveland back to Andrews or Kent; not much conversation, but enjoying the intimacy of little squeezes and tender glances. Those are the things he misses most.
What did she think of Rev. Kershner when she went to church with his mother? He plans to join the church shortly after leaving the Navy and having the pleasure of hearing more of the good reverend’s sermons.
He’s been thinking of all the things they’ll soon have a chance to do and he’s thought that bowling would be a good activity for a double date. It could be a good way for her to finally meet some of his friends, like Homer and Fred.
“Gee, that sentence you wrote about ‘arms aching’ sure sums up my feelings, too. I just ache all over to have your body pressing close to mine the way it did the night we fell asleep on the davenport. It was a good way of ‘holding tight,’ wasn’t it? Oh Dot, I’m thankful that we can derive so much pleasure and happiness from such simple things as merely being together, and that we don’t feel the need of going beyond our present limit to achieve that pleasure.”
He says that someday “when they’re both grown up,” he’ll tell her why he was so embarrassed in that picture they keep talking about. He shares her opinion that their courtship was the “shy and time-wasting” variety. If either of them had been different, he doubts they would have made it this long. Although they both want to avoid arguments or differences, they’ll have to have an occasional disagreement in order to “kiss and make up.” A double bed will be perfect for that, for how could they share a bed and stay angry with each other?
If Puckett, Martin and several dozen other folk have such poor taste, he sure hopes no one ever tries to change it. He’s completely satisfied with his taste in fiances and anyone who agrees with him as all the makings of a perfect chum for him.
He apologizes for jumping so far ahead on the subject of birth control. She’s right that they have no need of complete understanding of such options just yet. He thinks they agree on the religious objections, however.
Why has she settled on June 20 as a wedding date? Couldn’t it be on her birthday, or even some days before? The main thing is, it looks to him as though they’ve reached the decision that June 1947 is the month and year they will finally become husband and wife. Even though they know the answer is right for them, he would like to wait until they’ve had a chance to talk with his parents before they announce the decision. After that, all that’s left is to listen to ideas about how their chosen path might be made smoother.
The sport he’d mentioned as discussed in Life magazine was swimming. In particular, he read about a bathing suit called the “Moonlight Buoy” which is made with a large cork buckle that serves to keep the swimmer afloat in certain conditions. He certainly likes that idea, being the novice (and nervous) swimmer that he is.
In one of her letters Dot asked what she might ever do to repay his parents for their kindness and hospitality. “The way you repay Mom and Dad for being as they are and for having a son like me is to marry that son. That’ll be payment enough, and I’m sure they’ll enjoy it more than anything else.”
How he hopes he can live up to her image of him as a father. He can be quite unpleasant when he’s sore-headed at things. He’ll try to never let that temper show in front of their children.
He appreciated her mother’s thoughts on the question of their wedding date and thought she viewed their situation quite sympathetically. Her advice that in life one must take the bitter with the better is sound. For him, not being the sole support of his new wife would be bitter because he’d always hoped he could be. But Dot’s long-standing wish to work the first few years of marriage has changed that. The “better” in the early marriage would be obvious; they would be enjoying each other’s company and working together to build a future. They’d be helping to make up the time they lost when he was pulled away from his studies by the war.
“From a few moments’ cognition on the subject at hand, it seems that we have answered our problem already and are now looking for a logical and effective way to prove our solution. (Many’s the time I’ve done that, especially in geometry, and I got As in geometry!)”
He’ll miss walking around Charleston with her by his side, but she’ll be with him aboard the ship. “Good night, Dot. Remember always that I love you more than anything else in the world, and that our love is a constant and enduring thing.”