Dart’s letter today says the “nice little letter” from Dot today “softened the aches of a working man.” He claims his correspondents have dwindled to her and his parents. “All the rest of the people I know are either forgetful, on vacation or ‘traveling in Europe or the Pacific.”

Commenting on El and Don’s engagement party, he writes “Here’s hoping your next engagement will last longer than the 3-minute interlude of last Friday night.” He asks her if she prefers a long or a short engagement, and adds, “I think three minutes is a wee bit too short. But it’s long enough for me when you’re engaged to someone else!”

He reports that he is getting well and strong, but it’s a slow process.

He tells her he loves her so much that the rest of their lives would not be long enough to spend together.

His final sentence has a note of hope and desperation. “I must get there to see you sometime before too long. There are so many ways to do it (legally), but I don’t think I stand a chance for any of them until I finish boot.”

Dot is cursing herself for hastily accepting a babysitting job after a long day at Franklin Simons. Oh, well. As she writes this letter it’s very late and nearly time for the parents to come home.

She writes that she is going to her cousin Jane’s high school graduation tomorrow night. Jane is the youngest of three sisters, and the recipient of a prestigious college scholarship.

She writes an amusing paragraph about learning to drive. She’s much kinder to the gears than she was on that date several months ago when Dart let her shift gears in his Dad’s old car. Lessons are going well, except when she got a trifle excited and ran into a stone wall! “Little damage to the car,” she writes, “but you ought to see that stone wall!” She hopes to get her license by her birthday next week.

Responding to Dart’s request for permission to kiss Miss Riehl, she asks why he needs permission. But she grants permission with a flip, “Sure, go ahead and kiss her. But why good-bye? Is she going somewhere?”

She asks the question I’ve been pondering – if they want Dart to get well, why are they working him so hard? She deems them “knuts!” She launches into a brief fantasy about his making it into the Special Devices division and being stationed in Boston. Quite a dreamer!