What a lovely letter from Dart in response to Dot’s long one that she wrote on prom night. For a couple that have had so few dates together and created a meager handful of memories, they sure do get a lot of mileage out of memory lane.

Dart recalls the dried leaves the two of them kicked under a sofa in Dot’s house on one of their dates. Dot reported weeks later that they were still there. Today, Dart inquires if they remain even now. He remembers what fun they had dancing, even though he is a terrible dancer. He had fond thoughts of their ping pong game, despite the fact he didn’t even know the rules of the game they were playing.

Dot had mentioned that she used to have a dream boy in her mind that she felt was too perfect to ever find in reality. After getting to know Dart, she says her former dream boy looks silly because Dart far surpasses what she could have hoped for. In response, Dart cautions her to “wait until you see my off-guard moments and my habits before you say I’m better than your dreams.”

He thanks Dot for being so sweet and lovely and faithful. Then he asks her the essential question: Do you really think, as I think and sincerely hope, that ours is the proverbial ‘real thing’ and will last forever?

He then asks if she will allow him to call her darling yet, or if that must wait a while longer.

Dot finally had the time to write a long letter and she took great advantage of the situation. She began by sharing the news that she’d been invited to his folks’ house for dinner on Thursday. She suggested that he try to write his mother a cheerful letter, because she had sounded worried about how low he sounded in the last one.

Dot wished that he and his parents had been able to attend the beautiful Sing-out ceremony. She was deeply moved by the evening which made her even more reluctant to leave Andrews. The tea held after the ceremony was a grand affair, made even more so by the magnificent floral arrangement Dart had sent in honor of the occasion. How she’ll miss this school – both her fellow students and the faculty. She’s regretting her decision to return to Greenwich for her work experience. Even though she’s eager to see her family, she’s been away from her home town so long now, that most of the people she knows live in Ohio. He biggest regret is that she’ll be unable to see Dart before heading east.

She has received four letters asking her to come for an interview when she gets home. Two of the invitations are from small shops in Greenwich, and the other two are Bloomingdales and Saks Fifth Avenue in NYC. She’s on the fence about which would be a better experience.

She ends the letter by confiding that she has “oodles of big ideas” about the two of them, but she’s not the type to write them. She says it’ll have to wait until they are together, which she prays is soon.

Dart writes this letter at about the same time that Dot is heading home on an eastbound train.

The only news he can come up with from his end is the preparation for the weekly inspection of the wards. He launches into great detail about the flurry of activity that has patients and corpsmen alike scrubbing, swabbing, sweeping and polishing in order to impress the admiral. Then they wait. A blur of blue and gold finally buzz through – covering eight wards in 20 minutes. “All that work, all that worry, all that time wasted in waiting…, all that for what? Not a blessed thing… a time of utter confussion, ended by a great letdown.”

The final paragraph is just about the sweetest thing I can remember reading. It’s certainly worth a glance, but here is the gist of it:  “I wish we could live a thousand years so I could love you that long.”

Dot writes from the train that’s taking her farther from Dart. She was glad he called last night while she was at his parents’ house for dinner. She thanks him for sounding so cheerful and says his mother was quite relieved to hear that lilt in his voice. Once again she tells Dart how much she likes his family and how sad she is to be leaving Ohio.

The closer she gets to Greenwich, however, the more excited she is to see her own family. She is arriving two days earlier than expected, as a surprise. She says she was caught in a downpour as she ran to catch her train so her suit is wrinkled and her hair is flat. She only hopes her family is more surprised than scared when she shows up.

Dart had asked her if he could begin to call her darling every once in awhile. She answers that he can call her whatever he’d like, but anyone can write a mushy letter. She prefers the type of letters he writes – intelligent and witty. They have plenty of time to use the more passionate language, but she’ll be happy to hear from him, no matter what he writes.

It strikes me that at this moment in time, our two young lovers are at very different places in their lives. Dart is feeling bored, lonely and sad, with no idea when anything positive will happen to change his state. Dot is starting on a new adventure of moving home, finding a job and seeing where the future leads.