Dart is lonely and blue (nothing new there) and misses Dot. He went to see “Road to Utopia” by himself today. It was a nice diversion to take his mind off how much her misses her.
He and his folks went to chuch this morning. The minister, Mr. Kercher asked Dart if he’d a nice visit with you on Friday night, so Dart guesses Al’s mother has been talking. Anyway, he likes Mr. Kercher and thinks this church is very friendly, so he’s thinking of joining it soon. Even his parents talk about joining when Burke gets home.
It’s hard to believe that they will soon be feverishly planning their wedding. He’s excited, of course, but he gets scared sometimes, too. It’s all so overwhelming, but at the same time feels almost unreal.
At this point in the letter he begins a long, detailed, and rather dry discussion on …life insurance. He’s been talking with his cousin Jim, a claims adjuster for Traveler’s Insurance, and got the scoop on infinite varieties of policies – all of which he spelled out for Dot in painstaking detail. I’ll spare you, dear reader, from the agony.
He’s been dreaming of when they’re married and he’s a student again, how she can help him with his studies. He’s thrilled that she’s doing so well in typing class, because he hopes to use her skills on his papers.
Tomorrow he’ll go to Cleveland College and to the VA. He hopes for good news about school and about a loan for a house.
He asks for Toni Gale’s address so he can send her a card, and he’s happy to see Dot has started spelling sorority correctly … oops – he just spotted another “sorority” with only one “r”. He sure hopes they will find compatible friends one they’re married.
He confesses that something has been weighing on his mind since his recent visit to Kent. He is ashamed of the disrespectful tone he used toward her when they were disputing the number of letters Dart had written to her. She may not have even noticed it, but he hates to hear others using that tone on loved ones, and now he’s guilty of it himself. He asks her forgiveness. (I think that spat with his father is still effecting him.)
He hopes he can hornswagle Homer into coming with him to Kent soon (and drive that convertible) but he doesn’t think Joyce is Homer’s type of girl, so maybe he’ll meet someone else.
Okay, he’ll forget about the swimming part of their picnic and just have fun. Still, that day of seeing her in a bathing suit has to come sometime.
# # #
Although Dot claims to have been in a maze of fog and gloom this week, there were two bright stars to light her way. First was that surprise call from Dart, less than 48 hours after seeing him. Second was her Mother’s Day call home, which she paid for herself. She’d written to her mother to she if she’d find out if Dot could work for the recreation board the last half of the summer (after summer school or camp? I’m not sure.) Her mother told her that she and Mr. Chamberlain had discussed it and they both thought Dot would need a break after working so long and hard without one. (I’m glad they recognize how hard she works.) They practically insist that she not work during those last weeks of summer before school starts again in the fall. Dot says six weeks sounds like an awfully long break, unless it could be done at Sunapee.
She’s been feeling especially homesick this week – as badly as she felt her first week at Kent. She doesn’t know what she’d do if she didn’t have Dart to keep her company and bring her comfort with his voice and his smile.
She did a big load of laundry after classes and work tonight, so she’s dead tired and must end this letter, sending Dart all her love.