Dart is writing from his very own bedroom in Cleveland. After a hot, dirty but uneventful train trip, he arrived in town around 7:30 PM. It’s now 1:30 AM and his family has gone to bed.

He has five letters before him – four from Dot and one from El. He says they all have pretty much the same theme, and one that he whole-heartedly supports. Although the question of a side trip to Greenwich has not been thoroughly discussed, his parents suspected it would be raised and are “are rather in favor of it.” He corrects that last statement and says, “They like you well enough that they don’t seem to be at all put out or disheartened by my desire to visit you.” He’s very hopeful that the question will be settled tomorrow.

I think it’s sweet that a 20-year old man, eager to see his sweetheart for what may be the only time for months or years, is so respectful of his parents’ wishes. It’s quite revealing about his character. I hope he’s rewarded for his respect and compassion.

He reports that home is pretty much the way it was when he left, except for some much-needed sprucing up of the living room. In his bedroom, he is surrounded by all of his engine posters, railroad magazines, familiar books and sundry junk.

Tomorrow he plans to head over to the Case campus and see some of the guys. “You may be sure that I’ll thank Rousch for giving me your message that night. I’ve been mentally thanking him for eight months. I don’t think he knew what he was getting us into, nor did we, but boy! Am I glad!”

He mentions that two sets of aunts and uncles will be spending July 4 and 5 in Cleveland to see him. It seems to me that his 14-day leave is looking rather short, with all he hopes to cram into it.

He asks Dot about the palm reading she’d mentioned. “Anything that concerns or could concern us?”

He daydreams a little about which train he might take to maximize his time with Dot, if his parents agree to the trip. Then, he gleefully remembers that no one will yell “Hit the deck!” at 0500 tomorrow. Still he needs to get some sleep if he doesn’t want to snooze through his first full day at home.

Here’s a happy little note from Dot. Her first half day of work turned out better than she’d anticipated. When she arrived back home around noon, her mother suggested she pack a bag and head for the beach. Dot, her mother, and little brother Doug took their first dip of the season. “After we chipped off the first few chunks of ice, it wasn’t bad at all,” she quips. “I even managed a little dive, but we won’t discuss that further if it’s all the same to you.”

She asked him about the farewell party at Great Lakes, joking that it was, no doubt a sad and sullen affair. She only hopes he didn’t get sick from the abundance of snacks.

She asked about Tom Reilly, one of Dart’s roommates that she never met. “As I remember, he had a secretary named Peterson who used to write his letters for him.” What’s this? Was Dart involved in a little Cyrano de Bergerac action between Tom Reilly and a lady?

She discreetly inserted just one teensy mention of his weekend plans, hoping they might include her.