Dart has spent the better part of the evening on the big task of working out his school schedule for summer and fall. Cleveland College finally got around to telling him exactly what he needs to complete his degree. An error of some sort was discovered, giving him 93 hours toward the 120 hours needed for completion. It turns out he’s been a senior since January! But, he needs six more hours of Spanish, 11 hours of English, and several hours of something else that would constitute a minor. He’s decided on a psychology minor, meaning he’ll need to take English and psych as his two classes this summer.
He wonders if Dot knew a Ronnie Roerig at Andrews. Her name is Mrs. Bruce Wilson now. (How sad that she had to give up both her first and her last name!) Anyway, she’s the wife of a school chum of Dart’s and is involved someway with the alumnae group at Andrews.
Rejoice! Helen Peterson just got a small raise at work, and Dart, Sr. returns to his job at Quad Hall on Saturday. He’s happy to be going back on his favorite shift from midnight to 8:00 AM, as the “night man.”
He fears Dot has cursed them by hoping for a thunder storm at Sunapee. Now he bets they’ll have one every night they’re there.
He’ll get started on the blood test next week. Neither Dot nor the copy of the law she sent him stated where the blood test results go when they’re ready. Will he get a copy, or his doctor, or the state of Connecticut? He is highly motivated to get it right so they can get married on schedule.
As for their love letters, why not lug them to Sunapee? Then, if they get tired of sleeping, eating, chopping wood, washing (clothes and each other), mountain climbing, canoeing and swimming, not to mention (!), they can sort through them and decide which ones to save. “It’ll give us something else to be happy about.”
Then he asks if either Burke or Tom could come to Connecticut with him. Would she or the family mind? Would there be sleeping space for an extra person? He’d like some company on the trip and he thinks the Chamberlains could use an extra hand on deck for all the work they’re trying to do before the wedding.
He’ll save her May 2nd letter for answering at a later time. He feels like writing one of those lonely letters, but realizes that wouldn’t do either of them any good at this point, so he’ll say good night and turn his attentions to his Spanish text book.
# # #
Dot’s letter is another one of those that stretches across a couple of days. She worked one day recently for the Miller family until 8:00 PM, followed immediately by a stint at the McDonald’s house. There, she found the usual mess in the kitchen and by the time she’d cleaned it up and washed her hair, she fell into the guest bed without writing.
She staffed the teen social at the Y and had a great time. Next week she’ll handle the event all on her own, overseeing the care and feeding of 50 teens. She’ll make more money for that one, but it’s a lot of responsibility. Anyway, now that she knows most of the kids, she thinks it’ll be a fun job.
She continues the next day in an attempt to answer Dart’s letters. She fears that his calculations on the timing of her “monthly visitor” are a little off. If she continues on the same schedule as she has been the last few months, June 19 will be a very uncomfortable day for her, with the wedding day only marginally better.
His Uncle Ed must be a swell guy, giving Dart’s parents the money they need to come to Connecticut. She guesses swell guys must run in the family.
She likes his drawing of the wall of drapes and has seen similar things in magazines. They look a little bit complicated for her to just whip up, but maybe his seamstress mother could give her a few pointers.
As for speaking to Dr. Knowlton prior to the wedding, Dot has another idea. Although she knows him very well, she feels his ideas may be a little old fashioned. El has suggested an appointment with a woman physician named Dr. Shaw. El says she’s very easy to talk to and is wholeheartedly in favor of contraception for young couples who want it.
She fears Dart’s honeymoon budget is way off. On the one hand, she doesn’t think they’ll get very far on $5.00 worth of gasoline, and unless marriage puts him off his habit of eating, she fears their food for the week will exceed the $15.00 he has budgeted. On the other hand, a plain gold band shouldn’t cost more than $8.00. She makes no mention of Dart’s wedding ring, but I suppose that might come out of her own budget.
“Theoretically, you’re supposed to carry me over the threshold of our new home. I doubt you’ll be able to do it anywhere, though. No, I’m not trying to surprise you. I haven’t lost an ounce, but if you think I have,you will be surprised.”
In other news, she enjoyed the copy of the Skyline, she’d like to send Burke a birthday card, she bought a beautiful suit today, by accident. It’s a glen plaid and it fits her perfectly. She happened to be in Norman’s shop when he closed up yesterday, so he invited her to have dinner with him. She called home to get El’s permission, and they had a lovely time together. When she got home at 7:30, Virginia was waiting to see if Dot wanted to take a walk with her (like she needs more exercise!), so they strolled for about a half hour. Norm and El went to the church tonight to discuss wedding details with the minister. She and Dart will have to make an appointment with him as soon as Dart arrives.
“I love you, Dart. I’ll only be writing it about 40 more times in daily letters, but I’ll be trying to show you how much I love you for the rest of my life.”