Dart’s letter on this date is a long one, filled with news, chit chat and a heavy dose of passion.
He asks Dot to let him know before he leaves for Greenwich in two weeks whether she’ll be returning to Cleveland with him. If she’s not, then he thinks he’ll take the bus in both directions. It will save him some money and waste a little time, but he notes that his time is of little value, so the loss would be minimal.
His family’s old washing machine seems to have quit on them today. While he was at school, there was quite a discussion about who would fix it. Burke said that he and Dart would handle the job. Pop insists it will be him and Dart. Either way, Dart sees that he’s destined to become a grease monkey for the weekend. He doesn’t mind at all because he likes to tinker. Also, he writes with a gleam in his eye, if he’s unsuccessful, he’ll at least have a bag of spare parts to use at some future date.
When he and Tom Reilly went to a movie tonight, Dart had the idea that he and Dot should double date with Tom and a girl of his choice. He asked Tom if he ever went out on dates and Tom replied, “Not with you – only with handsome men.” After a laugh, Dart explained he was thinking maybe a double date with Dot and another girl for Tom. Tom assured Dart that he could dig up some “frail” somewhere, for the right occasion. Tom is working the midnight to morning shift at a printing office, doing hard manual labor while he awaits his post-graduate work at Case to begin in September.
The movie they saw was “The Kid from Brooklyn,” starring Danny Kaye. Dart claims to have no use for the actor, yet he admits to laughing uproariously at his antics. Parts of the movie seem to have brought out the prude in Dart with his comment about his disdain for a certain class of women “who hire themselves out so they can prove they a 15-inch waist and more weight just south of their shoulders than anywhere else on their bodies,”
At Dot’s urging, he looked for “Men, Women, and God” at the library today and was able to find a copy. He’s read all but the last chapter and seems as enamored with it as Dot was. In reflecting on the book, he writes, “It has at times seemed almost on the verge of blasphemy , but when we’ve been so very close, and when we’ve made our faltering steps, I’ve felt close, not only to you, but to God. I’m seldom moved to prayer, Dot, but when we are so much in love, I feel so humbled at the prospect, and too happy at its consequences, to keep my feelings to myself, or even between us. He who is responsible for us should know of our gratitude. I like the author’s idea of a few minutes of silent communion and thankfulness with Him after the ceremony and before our consummation of the marriage.”
He reminds Dot of “the night we couldn’t say good-bye” and how they sat on his bed and repeated the marriage vows to each other. He feels that they’ve been really married since then, although the marriage is not “wholly holy,” nor is it legal or physically complete.
The next few paragraphs express a sweet and tender love and a powerful passion in such an intimate way, as only Dart can do. I hope my mother will take some time today to read the actual letter Dad wrote on this day.
He pulls himself out of the clouds to respond to some of Dot’s recent letters.
If El is not serious about Norman, he hopes she will someday feel seriously about someone. Surely the pain and loss she suffered at the hands of her former fiance have left a deep scar, and one that may take years to heal. He hopes she’ll find that healing.
He was going to draw a little map of his train layout, but has decided to postpone that for a letter if she doesn’t return to see it in person. He asks that she tell Chuckie that Dart would love for him to visit his trains the next time he comes to Cleveland.
Yes, he’ll bring warm clothes to Sunapee. Does she think he should bring some “long-handled underwear?” He’s not too handy with an axe, but he’ll try to learn. As long as he doesn’t sprain an ankle jumping through the ice, he’ll be happy to take some pre-breakfast dips with her. He’ll be sure to pack his felt tooth pads so he doesn’t chip his pearly whites when they set to chattering.
That’s all for now.
# # #
Dot’s time got away from her last night, so she wasn’t able to write. First, Janie came to visit as soon as she got home from the Pecsoks, and stayed until 11:00. Then El, who’d been home sick all day with “one of the things that proves she’s female” asked Dot to fix her some tea and toast. Then Dot decided to iron a shirt for her father to wear to work today. “I had intended to write to you this morning, but I awoke to discover that I had ‘caught’ what El had yesterday. What a household! Too many women around here for anything to run smoothly.”
She tells that her father knew exactly what was going on with the sisters, but he, and they, would have been too embarrassed to talk about it directly. Before leaving for work this morning, he popped his head int Dot’s room and said, “I suppose you wish your mother were here to comfort you. True, I’m not a woman, and I don’t have a woman’s troubles, but I’ve lived with ’em long enough to know it’s hell. Stay in bed and grit your teeth.”
Two weeks from today, Dart will be on his way to see her! She tells him that he should feel no pressure to write to her that final week of school. All he needs to do is perform well on his exams and then come see her.
She believes they will be able to do better financially than just break even, Her bank account is now at $200 and she has money for the trip, to pay El some of her loan and to travel to Ohio. She assumes they’ll have to leave Greenwich on Thursday morning if he must be back by Friday morning and his parents object to them traveling together overnight.
She got a letter from Kent State today with her housing assignment for September. She was to have been part of an eight-girl house squeezed into a space that had been designed for four. No thanks! She sent her regrets.
In response to his question, she writes “Yes, Dart. I do feel we both gained a great deal through our personal talks. I no longer have qualms when I think of us ‘getting acquainted’ after we’re married. You’re so understanding, though, I doubt it would have been much of a problem.”
He had asked her how she deals with the great pain of missing him so much. He really struggles, but she has an idea of what helps her cope. She has found that when she is missing Dart so much that it threatens to drive her nuts, she simply engages herself in a project that requires both physical and mental energy. All of a sudden she finds that it feels as though a great burden has been lifted off her shoulders, and life is in balance again.
She cautions him against over confidence in her ability to manage a household budget. She’s never had any experience at such things. She’d hate to disillusion both Dart and his parents, who seem to share his faith in her.
It was nice of Burke to spring for a new battery for the Peterson family car. Meanwhile, the Chamberlains must rely on Pegasus for two weeks because the other car is at the lake. The old car has been behaving himself, though. She reports that he only coughs occasionally and he always remembers to cover his grill when doing so.
Since she slept all day, she’s not very tired now, but she has a big day tomorrow at the Millers. On Sunday, she’ll be working at a nursing home owned by an old friend of Ruth’s. The lady has been asking around town and has heard Dot is the best person for dealing with elderly invalids.
She writes “This afternoon when I read the final sentence to your letter, my eyes filled with tears. It wasn’t so much what you wrote as that I could almost hear you saying it. That made me so lonely for your, Darling. Then I recalled a night last September when you looked at me and then turned away. You said you couldn’t look at me just then, and although I failed to understand then, I think I understand now. You’re a perfect gentleman, Darling, and I love you for it.”