This short letter displays a certain degree of boredom between the lines. It is a litany of mundane activities for the day; letter-writing, eating, reading an Esquire magazine from 1937, sketching a bookcase he’d like to build after the war and a studio in his future dream home. The highlight of his day was being bundled up into a basket-like stretcher and going via ambulance to the x-ray area on the hospital grounds. “If they had wanted to see my ribs, they could have done it just as easily by looking at me from the outside.”

He wondered if anyone had ever taken pictures of Dot with the roll of film he sent her. He says the nurses tell him he will get his sick leave easily and soon. “It sounds too good be true,” said Dart.

Dot’s sumbission to today’s correspondance is actually two letters written on the same day. Referring to Dart’s paper bag letter, she says it brought a lot of cheer to the house the day it arrived. She will attempt to answer all his questions, but first she must rest her eyes.

She mentions a double feature that she and Cathie saw recently. One of the films was called “Girls on Probation,” which Dot deemed “very educational.” She said it showed that crime doesn’t pay, so she’ll have to change her plans for her future profession.

The second letter is mostly in response to the questions he posed in the paper bag letter. I gather the main topic was making plans for his pending leave time. Dot answers that as far as she’s concerned, they could sit outside on a step and talk the whole time. As for dancing, she says that knowing the two of them, they would either  need a whole evening of waltzes, or sit it out. She acknowledges that he guessed correctly – eating is her favorite indoor sport, but she’ll plan to eat a huge meal before he arrives so she won’t appear to be too hungry.

It seems that plans are already in the works for a flurry of letters between the Andrews faculty and the mothers of the two young lovers. Permissions and guidelines must be obtained in order for Dot to spend time with Dart off campus during his leave. Thankfully, both mothers are known and respected by the faculty. I think the liberation of Europe involved less planning than this as yet unapproved leave!