Two big things happened to Dart today; he went swimming by himself and had a great time, and he talked to Dot!

“Golly Dot, it was wonderful to hear your voice! I’ve known you a year and have actually been with you on only five tiny days. But your letters, our phone calls and our love has brought us together as close as any length of companionship could.”

He continues, “That three minutes of trivia was a precious three minutes. Small talk, I know, but what is love made of but little things? Don’t tell anybody, but I like you an awful lot, every bit of you all the time, in every way.”

He recalls the date they had in Cleveland when Dot stayed at Betty Wolf’s house. His friend Rausch cheated Dart out of a precious evening with Dot by taking her and Betty to a show the night before the official date, and he didn’t ask Dart to go along.

Dart interrupted the letter because it was time to sweep down the barracks for the night. In an effort to avoid the work, he left to find a broom and dustpan, and by the time he returned, the sweeping was done. “Of course, everyone saw through my ill-bred ruse, but I did get out of the work.” Such a scoundrel!

It’s time for bed. He tells her the Navy can stop him from finishing this letter, no matter how much he’d like to, but it can’t stop him from loving her. “Good night, my darling Dot. I miss you very much.”

What a sweet, ebullient letter from Dot, written shortly after the phone call. “It wasn’t a dream, was it,” she writes. “You did call me this afternoon and talk for 3 fleeting minutes, didn’t you? Oh Dart, it was the most wonderful feeling to hear your voice again.” How she wishes he could call every day, but the expense would be so much and the novelty might wear off. What would she have thought of the 21st century soldiers and sailors who can Skype their loved ones regularly and not have to pay one cent?

She tells Dart how wonderful it’s been to be at the Pecsok’s home today. Chucky ran to her with such joy when she arrived, and gave her a huge hug. When she put him to bed, he cried because she would  not still be there when he woke up. Dot was obviously touched by his affection for her. “Every day I’m more convinced that there is nothing more sincere and genuine than the love shown by a little child.”

Later, she says “Thank God young children don’t know the real heartbreak of this war. May they grow up in a world which will be forever at peace.” That must be the prayer of every generation.

Back to the blessed phone call – When Dot told her father that Dart had called, he just grunted and said, “The man must be in love to do a darned fool thing like that.” Her mother was nearly as thrilled as Dot was by the call. “She asked me what we talked about and when I told her ‘the hurricane,’ she almost passed out and said ‘Do you mean to tell me that dear boy called you all the way from Treasure Island and you couldn’t find anything more romantic to talk about than the hurricane? For shame! You’re no daughter of mine.'”

Dot deadpans “So it would appear they are quite well aware that this is more than a Platonic relationship.”

She closes by telling Dart that the only thing more precious to her than being loved by him is loving him.