Well, the year has finally arrived; the year that Dot and Dart have been waiting for so long; the year of their marriage. When I opened the 1947 file I was disappointed to discover that Dot’s letters are missing for the first three months, not resuming until April 2. Dart’s however still arrive at a pace of nearly one every day, right up until he boards a train for Connecticut in June.
This first day of January brings two letters from Dart and I’ll start with the second one. It was hastily written on cheap newsprint and has not withstood the ages entirely in tact. Some of the words written near the margins have broken off in dry flakes, and part of the pages have turned so brown that it’s difficult to read the fading ink. Still, it’s a tender letter and worth telling about here.
“My golly, you sure found one heck of a way to spend New Year’s Eve! Maybe that was why I was so restless as I wrote that other letter. Gee, as I was writing it, you were having some work done.”
Dart is grateful that Arthur Chamberlain called to deliver the news of Dot’s surgery and Jane’s passing. He was so shocked at all that had transpired that he called Greenwich as soon as he got home from work at 1:00 AM. The only new information Arthur was able to give is that Dot had muscles that would do a blacksmith proud and that she was in fine shape and resting well when the family left the hospital.
Dart expresses relief that if this had to happen, it happened while she was still at home, because at times like these, a girl needs her mother.
“I don’t know what I can say about Jane. I’m terribly sorry, Dot. If only I were able to express myself in times like these, as well as I’m told I can at other times, it would make it much easier. …She was such a nice friend, Dot.”
He begs her to follow doctor’s orders and get well quickly. He tells her he’s pulling for her and he says it hurts that he cannot be with her at a time like this. He pleads with her to keep her chin up and tells her he’ll enclose the letter he wrote earlier in the evening.
At the start of the first letter, he warns her that it must be a short one because he has a long list of chores that must be done. Most of the housework falls to him now that both his mother and father are working.
He took Burke to the station tonight. He had to return to school early for his job but was able to get a nice seat on a new rail car, so Dart supposes he’ll have a comfy trip to Chicago.
His old buddy John Angel stopped by for a visit the other day and they had a grand ofld chat, catching up on all the gang. John loves married life immensely. He told Dart that Charlotte Monck’s husband is a ‘good guy, but a little tough’, having grown up on the south side.
On the bus home from work the other day, he ran into his gawky, awkward pal Willard Hatch with a girl! She was almost as tall as Willie and wore glasses nearly as thick as his, and they seemed to be having a grand old time together. Dart wonders if the young lady ever got a chance to say anything because Willie does like to run on.
He gives her a rosy report on the state of their bank accounts and seems pleased that they finally seem to be getting some traction on the savings skills.
How nice that she finally got the hope chest she’s been hoping for. It sure seems like she had a very bountiful Christmas and he’s only sorry that she was feeling too poorly to enjoy it all. (The chest she received still holds a place of honor in Mom’s bedroom.) It’s a handsome cedar-lined walnut chest that her father made for her. Her older sister Eleanor got a matching chest which is still doing noble duty in the home of El’s daughter Cathy.
“All the rest of your letter was about wedding dresses, silverware, and Sunapee. …Maybe this little personal work stoppage you’re running right now will give you the chance to lose the weight you want to lose. I’ll bet I could carry you over the threshold even now in my run-down condition of 175 pounds. I think I’ve lost some in the past couple of days. You do drastic things to my innards, Dot.”
He thinks June seems a long way off, but his list of things that must be done by then is daunting. He doubts he’ll get it half done. He sends her his love and a great, big kiss in the form of a giant X at the bottom of the page.
I also found a Western Union telegram addressed to Dot at Greenwich hospital.
DOT DARLING, YOUR FATHER CALLED TO TELL OF YOUR OPERATION. PLEASE GET WELL IN A HURRY. THERES A BIG FAT NO GOOD LETTER FOR YOU IN THE MAIL RIGHT NOW. IM AWFULLY SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT JANIE.