Dot’s letter is a nice balance of chatty news and a response to the two letters she got from Dart today. She calls them “real picker-uppers.” One reason she has for wanting to stay at Franklin Simon is that everyone there seems to care a great deal about Dot’s romance. They always check in with her after she goes home for lunch to see if there were any letters from Dart. They can usually gauge the response by the width of her grin, and they always want to know what’s new with him. My theory is that they really like Dot, and they enjoy how animated she gets when talking about her beau. As the saying goes, “Everybody loves a lover.”

She’s glad to hear he’s beginning to like life on board the ship. When she told her father that, he remarked, “Oh sure! He’s probably having a wonderful time. He’ll probably come back married!” Then he told Dot to tell Dart he said that. “There, I told you, but only because he asked me to. Under no circumstances should you feel obligated to act upon his suggestion!”

Her boss, Bob Goldstein has written another note to Dart to include in Dot’s next letter. She comments that it’s a nice note, except for the punctuation and grammar, but Mr. Goldstein has only a third grade education.

Typical of this time of year, Dot reports that the store is about as busy as a nylon stocking shop with only 35 gauge nylons to sell. (I take it such items are not that appealing.) It’s 3:00 in the afternoon and Dot has yet to open her sales book.

She appreciates Dart’s efforts to prepare her for the time when the letters stop coming for long periods. Still, she hopes he realizes that knowing it’s that time is coming will not make it any easier to live through. She will heed his advice and keep re-reading his old letters during the “drought times,” probably having them all memorized by the time he comes home.

If she sends him any more photos, the Navy will need to build a separate compartment just to house his “rogues gallery.” Still, if her snapshots from her Andrews weekend turn out she will send him some.

Yes, she says, the Miller boys were well-behaved on New Year’s Eve when she babysat. “I’m sure even you are well behaved when you’re sleeping,” she retorts.

She’s fascinated by the ‘perfect 12″ from Dart’s past and she wants to hear all about her. Then she asks him if a “perfect 14” would be okay with him.

If she’s to have anything left to write in her next letter, she needs to end this one right now, and so she does.

No letter from Dot tomorrow, but we’ll have a chance to re-connect with Dart.