This was a rather inconsequential reporting of an inconsequential day at Great Lakes Naval Hospital. Dart had no mail to answer, hadn’t gone to church and didn’t feel like doing the washing and mending that awaited him. Instead, he gives Dot a detailed accounting of a long, chilly stroll he and a fellow patient took all over the sprawling campus. He reports seeing some attractive Waves, which is proof of how hard up the Navy is for women. In the past, they only had ugly Waves, according to Dart – the kind that made dogs howl and children run, screaming to their mothers.  The two men watched streams of visitors arrive, sauntered past the golf course, stood on a high bluff overlooking the boathouse and watched cats chase some squirrels.

He broke off writing, saying that, although he loves her, he also loves chow and it was nearly time for dinner. Because both breakfast and lunch had been especially fine today, he was not holding out much hope for dinner, but he was hungry, nonetheless. His P. S. confirmed that dinner was nothing to brag about.

Dot writes her first letter from home – and a chatty one it is. She tells about walking unannounced into the livingroom late Friday night to find her mother writing a poem. Ruth just stared at her daughter, too surprised to speak. They spent two hours catching up on a semester’s worth of news and waiting for her father to return from the circus at Madison Square Garden. (Spectator, not performer!) Not able to stay awake, Dot went upstairs to bed. A little while later, she heard her father’s car pull up, so she hurried downstairs and climbed into bed with her mother. When her father came in, she popped up and scolded him about the late hour. He too was struck dumb by her surprise arrival.

The following day, Dot met her sister Eleanor’s unofficial fiance Don. He’s not very good-looking, but not ugly, either. He’s 6’6″ and finishing pre-med at school.

Dot spent some time cleaning house and planning to redecorate her room. She’s terribly homesick for the folks back at school and has already decided she prefers the Ohio personality to the Connecticut type. She announces she’ll live in Ohio after graduation. I can vouch for the fact that she was a woman of her word, because from then on, she was never a permanent resident of any other place but Ohio, to this very day.

She tells Dart that even though he is 1100 miles away, he is near to her heart. She dreams that sometime this summer, he’ll pay her a surprise visit like she did her parents.

This is an amusing letter from Dart, complete with his stream-of-conscious self-editing of all his grammatical and handwriting errors. After several expressed corrections, he refers to his old-maidish traits, like a school teacher. That made me smile because it reminded me of how Dad used to chide “spinster high school English teachers for their fixation on enforcing archaic, petty,  or passe rules of grammar. For example,  Me:  Dad, is it true you’re not supposed to begin a sentence with the words “and” or “but?”  Dad:  That’s a spinster English teacher kind of rule. If it makes a better sentence, do it.

He writes about is folks’ review of their second evening with Dot. The verdict? They like her even more than before. They like her as much as Dart does, “and that’s saying quite a lot.” He is happy they all stayed at home together rather than going to a movie – “more chummy and friendly.”

Dart decides to agree with Dot about eschewing passionate phrases and endearments for now. He sees the wisdom of keeping their feet planted closer to the ground, even if their heads are in the clouds.

Responding to her surprise for her parents by arriving a day early, Dart imagines how she must have felt when she walked in the front door of her house. As he describes the physical symptoms of such joy – heart throbbing in your neck, walking like you weigh a few ounces, the shout caught in your restricted throat – I realized he was describing his feelings when he received the first couple of letters from Dot. How sweet this guy is!

There’s some other chat about the broken record player at his parents’ house and his “shocking” attempts to fix it, the washing and mending that are still not done, his need to write letters to his family. Then he closes with this: “Almost everything I do all day long is with you in mind. When I work or walk alone, you are beside me.”

It’s letters like this one from Dot that remind me I come from a double line of writers. Although her style is different from Dart’s, she can certainly fill the pages with funny, interesting and well-expressed thoughts.

She talks about her first full day at home by reciting all the household chores she accomplished while the rest of the family were at work or school. Laundry, kitchen clean-up, ironing, cooking and letter-writing. A note from her “little sis” at Andrews caused a wave of homesickness for her school and friends.

She fulfilled Dart’s request for a travel guide of Greenwich. She began by saying how awkward she felt trying to “sell” him on the place when she herself was sold on Ohio. Greenwich is a beautiful old town with great wealth. She loves it because it’s home, but aside from her family, she doesn’t feel the average Greenwich resident cares much about other people. Her home is very near Long Island Sound and most of her family members love being in or near the water at every opportunity. (“I’m in hot water most of the time,” she quips.)

She has an interview tomorrow at a shop in Greenwich. She’s decided she’d rather work locally than commute into the City. She will not start college this coming September because it would break up the year too much when she had to return to Ohio for her formal graduation after the second semester of college was underway. By delaying a year, she will also have more of her own money saved for tuition.

Her final Andrews report card arrived and was the best she’d ever received. She’s glad her parents have proof that they didn’t waste their money on her education.

She says she needs to get to bed so she’ll look awake and beautiful for her interview. Her secret to looking happy, she has discovered, is to simply think of a certain young sailor in Ward 83 South and she has a radiant glow.

She tells Dart that she’ll never be able to express her feelings for him as beautifully as he does, but the feelings are real, nonetheless. She is grateful he is is where he is, rather than where her brother Gordon is right now. (Somewhere in the Pacific.)

Dart seems to be in fairly good spirits today. He is most complimentary of the letter Dot had written from Greenwich, saying it had all the elements that make a letter good.

He explains that he didn’t write yesterday because he was too tired. He’d wrangled a pass to visit the small stores across the huge campus. He took a long walk there to exchange some uniforms that were too small for him.

Dart tells an embarrassing story about going through the breakfast line yesterday. He loaded his tray with Rice Krispies cereal and milk, eggs, bacon, fruit, toast and coffee. As he headed to the table, his left foot got in the way of his right one, and he found that he and his breakfast were sprawling flat out on the floor!

He appreciates the way she surprised her folks when she got home. He tells her that he’d love to surprise her the same way, but he knows that if the day ever comes when he is actually on his way to see her, he’d be too excited to keep it a secret. He’d probably send her a telegram, followed by a phone call.

He’s been thinking about her comment on how small her family is getting. (Harriet married and out of the house, Gordon fighting the war, Eleanor away at school or at work…) He says that it’s given him an idea which he will tell her about sometime, if things go as well as he’s hoping. There he goes with that cryptic thing again. I suspect his thoughts run something like her family may someday start getting larger again, when he joins it as Dot’s husband!

Having never been much farther from home than other parts of the Midwest, except for a brief visit to the New York World’s Fair, he cannot comment on the regional personalities of people. He seems to like the Ohio people he knows, and he’s gratified that she does, too. He likes the idea of her living in Ohio after graduation so that if he ever gets a leave, he can spend time with both her and his family.

He ends the letter by saying he’s sorry a meager letter is the only way to bridge the 1100 miles between them. He also asks for her phone number in Connecticut.

Dot begins her letter in a rare low mood. She misses Dart and the kids from school terribly and is finding it hard to adjust to being at home. She thinks about packing up and going back to Ohio, but she’s strapped for cash and is stuck in Greenwich. She assumes things will get easier once she’s working and keeping her mind busy.

Feeling better after getting that off her chest in her little “chat” with Dart, she moves on to responding to his recent letter. She’d like a copy of the photo that was taken of Dart for a Navy publication. She’s glad he didn’t go over the wall when he was feeling so down. As much as she’d like to see him, she’d rather it not be behind bars. There was some brief discussion about whether Chicago and Greenwich are in the same time zone. And she was interested to see the map he’d drawn of the hospital campus. She’d noticed that his ward was very near the recreation center and she asks him if he goes there often.

While his walk with a friend all over the hospital grounds sounds charming, Dot says she prefers bicycling, and hopes to do quite a lot of it this summer. She’s impressed with the domestic skills he has brought out into the light and suggests he’d make a decent housewife for someone.

She tells Dart that she and her mother are going into NYC in the morning to try to find a job for her. She doesn’t hold out a lot of hope, but it’s worth a try.

This is a very brief letter from Dart, and although it is only a few sentences long, he manages to squeeze in a little humor and a lot of love.

Dot’s letter begins with a complaint about her achy feet before she corrects herself and re-starts with a proper salutation. Then she continues her complaints about her feet. She trudged all over NYC today wearing pumps, and is paying a heavy price tonight.

She was offered a job at Lord and Taylor and has an interview tomorrow with someone who knows someone who is related to someone who knows somebody at Conde Nast. It took only a day to convince her that the City is not her cup of tea and she’d rather work in Greenwich. She tells a funny story about seeing a truck whose engine was on fire and the NYFD responded with three trucks, including a hook and ladder!

She recalls for Dart a sweet incident that happened when she was saying good-bye to his folks in Cleveland. His father pulled her aside and gave her some sage words about working in a huge city like New York. She was so touched by his concern. Again she contrasts the kindness of people in Ohio to others she knows and finds that Ohioans win in her book.

Another funny story happened at home this evening when she was making fudge for the kids at Andrews. Her father walked in and scoffed “What’s gong on here? Do you send him a box every time he sends a letter?” When Dot responded that the fudge was not for “him”, her father retorted “Oh, so you’re not faithful to him, eh? Well don’t come cryin’ to me when he’s mad at you for not keeping him nourished!” Dot asks the rhetorical question, “Don’t they know it’s poor psychology to tease a teenage about her love affairs?”

Dart received a letter from Dot and one from her mother today, but neither, as good as they are, can ease the aching in his heart. He claims that he first aches for Dot, but unbelievably, there is something else causing him worry and concern.

The doctors believe they have found something else wrong with him. He won’t say what it is until the tests confirm it, but it will require more weeks of recuperation in the hospital! When does this end for the poor boy?

He says he wants to get out, and get the war won, among other things. Although he considers himself a hopeless case, he asks Dot to keep on hoping as hard as she can.

Trying to answer her recent letter, he said he enjoyed reading her daily “diary” of activities. It sounds a lot like what he’d be doing if he were in a similar circumstance to her.  He comments that Greenwich sounds like a pleasant place, especially the proximity to water. He used to be afraid of water, but now he enjoys it. He describes his swimming skill as “flailing like a frightened chicken,” but he still has fun.

He congratulates her on her report card and encourages her to keep her plans to attend college, even if she delays it by a year.

He is so grateful to have her in his life. She’s so sweet and faithful and good that he almost feels the seven months of knowing her have been a dream.

This was a quick, breezy letter from Dot. Although she received no mail from Dart today, she did get two letters from friends at school. “That is, I think the letters were for me – even though they began ‘Dear Dot, How’s Dart?'” Even her three-year old niece asked her today how that ‘poor, dear, sick sailor’ was doing. She reminds him that it’s more than his family, friends and her who care about his well-being.  I can’t help but think how all those people will feel when they learn he’s hit another bump in the road.

She ends the letter with “This must be short, but I’ll never run short of love for you.”

Such a sad letter from Dart. He’s been moved to a new ward with a confirmed diagnosis of mumps. He feels terrible and looks worse. He sounds so discouraged, but who wouldn’t be, in his situation?

He thanks her for the cookies, which he’ll finish eating when he’s not in so much pain. He also asks her to tell her mother that he’ll answer her letter when he feels better.

Before closing, he reminds Dot how grateful he is to have her in his life. He’s not sure how he would have come through these very trying six months without her.

Dot is still in blissful innocence of Dart’s new status. She’s exuberant about her new job at a small department store in Greenwich called Franklin Simon. She’ll be working in the sportswear department, six days a week. She’s also pleased that her schedule will give her evenings free to babysit and earn extra money. “Why, in about five years, Mrs. Astor’s millions will look practically silly next to mine,” she jokes.

She scolds Dart about wanting to waste his money by calling her at home, and refuses to send him her phone number. That’s the frugal woman I grew up with!

She tells Dart about her evening babysitting job where her young charge was asleep most of the time. That gave her time to clean the house, make dinner and finish up the laundry! Wow, if that’s the service she delivers, it’s no wonder she’s in such high demand as a sitter!

She had to wrap up when her father told her to turn off the light because it was well past midnight.

Dart reports that he still feels miserable, but had enough energy today to get his gear stowed in his new ward. As usual, Dot’s picture is garnering lots of compliments from everyone who passes by. He was even able to eat two more of her homemade cookies.

He thanks her for the gum and promises he’ll chew it when “conditions” improve. In response to her question about his favorite flavor, he comments that he is not “chewsy;” he likes all flavors. (Groan!)

Part of his treatment is intervenous feedings, which were once reserved for the very, very sick. They are now administered more widely and they seem to help him regain some strength.

He tells Dot not to be so hard on herself for feeling homesick for Cleveland. What kind of girl would she be, he asked, if she didn’t miss the friends she’d had for so many years? She can always vent to him, especially after all the venting he has done in her direction.

He talks at length about his recent work in the wood shop. He’s helped the Red Cross volunteers sort and organize all the materials, installed a new machine, helped set up small projects in wood and plastic that bed patients could work on, and assembled tool kits for each of 25 wards. Naturally, he’s also been working on two model trains for his set back home. He wishes he’d been able to finish them before he was quarantined. He also made a pair of wooden shower sandals for an officer and offered to make a pair for Dot, too. All she needs to do is send an outline of her feet on paper and he’ll customize them to her size.

He heard from a friend stationed in Colorado that he’d like to visit Dart when his train to Cleveland stops in Chicago. Dart would love to see him, and is disappointed that he’s in the isolation ward. It’s been such a long time since he had any visitors and he’d really like one now.

He leaves her with a wish that she has found employment by now and that she’ll like her job.

Dot sent a postcard and a greeting card today. She’s saddened by the news that he’s had a setback and wishes there were something she could do to make him feel better. She has very little time to write, but promises a longer letter tomorrow.

Today brings an effusive letter from Dart. He is overwhelmed by Dot’s attention, generosity and care for him. He has received another care package of candy and reading material from her, as well as a great letter. He writes, “I  have so little to offer, save some ‘purdy’ words. But Dot, …the thoughts that move those words are prettier than the words.”

He was very impressed by the brochure of Greenwich she had included in the package. A recent newspaper column by Walter Winchell lists some of the many dignitaries who live in this small town. It also mentioned that the Duke and Duchess of Windsor are buying a house there. As Dart looked over the map, he tried to picture Dot riding her bike to Long Island Sound. He imagined her shopping on Greenwich Ave. He hopes to one day find the town as beautiful as he imagines, but how could it fail if she lives there?

Noticing the miles of bridle paths throughout the town, he asks Dot if she rides. The sport has never had much appeal to him.

He tells her a funny incident that took place when he was working on his model trains in the Arts and Skills room. Read it for an amusing example of people hearing what they want to hear, and relating a story with increasing inaccuracies.

He tells her that Tommy Dorsey is broadcasting a live radio concert from the Great Lakes Hospital recreation room and Dart truly wishes he were able to go see him.

As I re-read my entry today, I recognize that I never really do justice to summarizing the letters of these two gifted writers. In order to capture all the wit and charm, I’d end up retyping each and every word. Please know that my ramblings are intended to whet the reader’s appetite and encourage a real reading of the whole letters.

Dot reports that her first day on the job was most satisfactory. (At least it was for her, and she’s not asking anyone else for their opinion.)

She tries to answer Dart’s question about what kind of business her father is in. She explains that her runs “The Fix-it Shop,” a unique maintenence service for the house and its contents. He was mentioned in a book by Walter B. Pitkin called Careers After Forty. The story I always heard growing up was that Arthur Chamberlain had attended Yale and gone to work on Wall Street. He really hated the job, and may have been the happiest guy in NYC when the market crashed in ’29. He decided to follow his heart and set up shop in Greenwich where he could tinker for a living. He died a young, but happy man, doing what he loved and doing it well.

Dot’s letter picks up the next day, just after receiving Dart’s letter naming his latest diagnosis. She is crushed that he must face another trial.

She tells him about a beautiful dream she had last night where he showed up in Greenwich and they had a lovely day. Bike ride, picnic in the park, etc. She cried when she awoke and learned it was only a dream. She lives in fervent hope that it will come true someday soon.

She tells him to give away the cookies he cannot eat and she will send fresh ones as soon as she gets word that he’s on the mend.

Dart writes a sympathetic letter concerning Dot’s achy feet. He wishes for her a job in Greenwich where she can stand for long hours on a soft floor.

He’s glad she likes Ohio and says, not very cryptically, that he has hopes they have a future together in Ohio.

He talks a bit about El’s finace, Don. He hopes Dot’s family will like him as much as they seem to like Don, but it’s hard to top a Dean’s List from medical school. He asks when El and Don plan to marry and then says something about having plans of his own, but needing to wait until they know each other better before he can mention them. Still, he can dream, can’t he?

He mentions how kind the nurses from his former ward have been. He received a card from one and a visit from two others. I suspect they’ve all taken an extra smidgen of concern for this handsome young sailor who can’t seem to find a way out of the hospital.

There is a touching paragraph where Dart ponders his eventual reunion with Dot. His thoughts get as far as the tight embrace and luscious kiss, and he wants to hold his imagination right there. He misses her in such a viseral way that he can think of almost nothing else.

His P. S. reveals that he suspects the mumps have spread to his left jaw. He dreads the swelling and discomfort that will follow. (Not to mention the extended stay in the hospital!)

Dot was gleeful that her letter from Dart was eight pages long, while the one he wrote her mother was only four. Her mother suggested they swap letters so that each could see what he’d written to the other. Dot didn’t fall for that line.

She says that his work in the wood shop sounds like it might have been fun, and a good way to take his mind off his troubles. She promises to swallow her pride and send an outline of her less-than-dainty feet so he can make a pair of shower slippers.

She’s sorry his friend will not be able to stop by for a visit, but she has an idea of how he might get visitors, if he’d like. There are three girls he met at Andrews School who are working and sharing an apartment in Chicago. They’ve offered to pay him a call if Dot can get specific instructions about how they’d find him.

She reports that she likes her job better each day, but she’s nervous about going in tomorrow. The manager and only other employee of her department left on a two-month vacation, so Dot will be alone and in charge during her absence. The woman is going to Texas to spend time with her husband before he ships off to war. That little statement served to remind me how nearly everyone is in some way impacted by the war. What sacrifices this whole country made during the long war years!

Because she keeps Dart’s picture in her bedroom, she doesn’t give many people an opportunity to comment on it. She tells him that when she sleeps, he is just two feet away. She’s sure that’s why she has such wonderful dreams.