Dart opens his 16-page letter with a statement that he loves Dot. He writes it because she told him she loves to read that as an opening line, and he writes it because it’s true.
He wonders why they tend to miss each other even more when they aren’t feeling too well. Every time he moves in his bed, he thinks how much better he’d feel if he had her to cuddle with right now. “Just think – if things go as we plan, just six or seven days after I see you next, we can lie down together, cuddle up, and go to sleep, without anyone even lifting an eyebrow.”
Dot mentioned an article she’d found called “An Open Letter to Husbands.” Dart asks her to send him a copy so he can learn whatever it has to teach him. “I’d feel as though I were doing you an injustice if I didn’t know more than I know now about making our sexual life more satisfactory for both of us. I know I won’t get any instruction from my parents. That leaves doctors, ministers, and reading as sources of the necessary information.”
This line of thought has naturally led him to wondering about the honeymoon. Where will they spend their first night? Maybe a hotel in Stamford or New Haven? He knows Dot would like to make it to the cottage at Lake Sunapee, but with an evening wedding, it will be hard to get that far on their first night. “I would hate to waste the first night together just so we could sleep at Sunapee.”
Deciding that’s enough of that kind of conversation, he recalls an incident when Dot showed such loyalty that he was incredulous. He’s pleased she would do such a thing, proud of her for trying, and sad it didn’t work out as she’d hoped. He’s talking about her attempt to learn more about his hobby. He blames the miserable book she decided to read on the subject, which could have spoiled it for anyone. He’s discovered a new book that he thinks – if she ever has the courage to try again – would provide her with an interesting and humorous story about the love of trains. Maybe she could see her way to reading just the first chapter sometime…and maybe select pages of subsequent chapters, if she wanted…maybe even the whole book…but only if she really, truly wanted to.
He finally wrote to Hal Martin to let him know the date of their wedding and ask him to be an usher.
He writes a short dissertation about their different tastes in household pets. He confesses that he far prefers cats to dogs, but he’s not really that interested in cats. There have been a few dogs that have captured his interest over the years, but for the most part, he finds the critters rather distasteful. In short, he likes pets best when they are somebody else’s and he feels no need to have pets in their own home.
He’s tickled that Dot cares enough to tell him about her new clothes and even sketch them for him. From her descriptions, he reiterates that the new wardrobe underscores her impeccable taste in clothes and how to wear them. It adds a great deal to her charm and attractiveness in his estimation. This is just one time when I’ve been impressed by Dart’s interest in various things. He cares about the sterling pattern that they choose, he’s thought about the colors for their apartment, he’s interested in Dot’s trousseau. How many men take an active interest in such things? I do remember, though that Dad had an interest in nearly everything – even more so if it involved Mom!
Dot must have asked how he felt about receiving money as a wedding present from folks. He tells her that he’d be fine with that, as long as they got some actual gifts, too. Money would certainly come in handy in setting up their household. Maybe they could buy a radio or an icebox.
He thinks it’s a swell idea if her mother would come out to visit them next summer. He’d look forward to her visit and he hopes they’d have their little apartment all fixed up by the time she visits.
Agreeing with Dot’s letter, he writes, “I, too, like the use of ‘us.’ I’ve been thinking in terms of ‘us’ for quite a while, but the closer we get to being ‘us’ for always, the more thrilled I am to be thinking and speaking of ‘us’ together.”
He had to miss his appointment to register for classes this morning because he’s still sick. He’ll have to call to reschedule when he’s back on his feet. Dr. Singer wants him to be on soft foods for another few days.
The city is covered in a thick layer of snow, underpinned by a layer of ice. He doesn’t envy his mother’s drive home from work tonight. The snow is blowing and drifting in the high winds, and temperatures are plummeting. Welcome to winter in Cleveland!
He writes a little about their married-life budget. He knows he can provide an income of about $90 per month. He’d like to offer his folks $10 a week for the rentals of the third floor rooms, but his mother said they didn’t need that much. Naturally, there will be food and car fare, plus a few months of the typewriter payments. Life insurance will be about $6.50 a month, and he can get a hospitalization policy for the two of them for about $3.25 per quarter. He’d like to maintain his membership in the City Club, if he gets in, at $1.75 a month. He has no idea how much to budget for furniture, church, recreation, or anything else he’s forgotten, so he’d welcome her suggestions. The real question will be how much Dot can earn.
He’s been thinking of buying a raffle ticket sometime, in hopes of winning a a new car. The family hasn’t made any firm decisions about selling their car. He wishes they didn’t feel that they had to, and he wishes they could afford to make the repairs it needs.
His father was morose during their last visit, extremely bothered by the patients that are so much worse off than he is. Rather than gratitude that he’s in better shape than they, he sees their conditions as a view of what’s to come for him.
Soon, he’ll send her plans for a sweet little house he found in the newspaper. She can add them to their scrapbook along with the plans he sent her from the Haggard all those months ago. When they make up their budget, they need to remember to add a healthy savings plan so they can someday build that little house.
When he read Dot’s comments about the last couple of nights they were together on her recent trip to Cleveland, he discovered that they share the same feeling for those nights. “You made me feel so good when you fell asleep in my arms and didn’t even wake up when I left to go to bed.It seemed that Sunday night, all the novelty of being together had worn off and was now simply love, and trust, and a beautiful, faithful harmony – a mutual set of thoughts and emotions. I guess that makes us as nearly one as we can be until the ultimate of being one in body and motion. My Darling, I love you with all the longing and tenderness and desire for everything good that it’s possible for me to have. Yours, forever and ever.”