At last! A letter from Dart, with an enthusiastic report of a surprise visit from his parents. Apparently, the Navy had notified them that he was quite ill, and they had hopped on a night train for the 400 mile trip to Great Lakes Naval Hospital. Family lore has it that the Navy had intimated to Dart Sr. and Helen that their son might not pull through. That’s a reminder of how serious pneumonia was in the early days of antibiotics!

Anyway, he is thrilled to have had a nice long visit, with the promise of another one tomorrow. He was shocked by his father’s hair, which had just started to get some gray when Dart left home on Nov. 3. Today, his entire head is silver. I remember my grandfather as a frail man. Family stories paint the picture of a man prone to depression and worry. I wonder if the thought of his eldest son going off to war had caused his hair to turn so quickly.

Even in Dart’s fragile state of health, he commiserates with Dot about her cold. He’s happy to learn that she enjoyed her dinner at Miss Hutton’s more than she’d thought she would. This sage 20-year old says “Often you find that school teachers have souls, whether they act like it in class or not.”

His only answer to her question about when he might get to come home is strictly a guess. If they keep him in the hospital another two weeks, he could be home sometime in the middle of March.

He guesses that she’s not as bad a cook as she would lead him to believe, and suggests that perhaps she’s just trying to scare him off.

Here’s a short letter from Dot, rather sullen for her. She opens with a very sweet paragraph, but then begins to talk about what a rough week she’s having. No mail from anyone, arduous Glee Club rehearsals, complete failure in creating a clever graduation display for the retail store, a mean-spirited lecture from the senior English teacher. There’s not much going right for her.

She signs off quickly, sending her love, as always.

Dart sends another letter telling Dot about the quick visit his parents made this morning before leaving for their train. The trains are so crowded these days that they wanted to be sure to get a seat rather than have to stand all the way back to Cleveland. Dart is still not sure how they got permission to visit in a contagious ward, but they did, and he’s mighty glad they did.

His father – whom everyone calls Pop -has promised Dart he can use the family car and as much gasoline as can be found when he’s home on boot leave. Dart is also trying to arrange for the use of another car when he’s home so he doesn’t leave his folks stranded.

Not much more to report, other than that he needs to clear up a sinus condition and regain some strength before he’ll be released to boot camp.

This is the letter Dot wrote when she finally heard from Dart after is long sick spell. I’m kicking myself because somehow I’ve lost the middle two out of four pages. Suffice to say that her enthusiasm for the letter is reflected on the first page, and her eagerness to see him wraps up the final page.

This thoughtful letter from Dart discusses his recent correspondence with the Marine, Fred Dixon. These two boys generally celebrate their birthdays together with a gang of friends. This year, however, when they both turned 20, they were unable to continue the tradition. All but one of their “gang” is serving in uniform somewhere in the world. The remaining fellow is a “cripple” (our more politically correct generation would say “has a disability”)  because of infantile paralysis. (more commonly known these days as “polio.”)

Dart and Fred are somewhat bitter about their entire generation of boys who are losing the chance to transition into adulthood. While being cheated of their carefree days, those under the strict command of others also lose their opportunity to make choices and learn from their mistakes. Without the benefit of those transitional years, they have forever lost an important part of their youth.

Dart points out that, like most philosophers, he and Fred can wax eloquent when describing the bitter state of the world, but when it comes to offering solutions, they are short on ideas. The only one they can come up with is end the war.

He says he wishes he could be with her to help with her retail displays. “With my artistic eye and super talent for salesmanship, I should have you a display to curdle the stomachs of your customers and have them leaving the store in droves.”

He tells Dot not to take too much heed of the lectures and scoldings she and her classmates are receiving from their teachers. He reminds her that seniors have a tendency to dream among the clouds and it is their teachers’ job to pull them back down to reality.

He thanks Dot for the box of cookies and candy she sent. Although he was too sick to eat them when they arrived, he’s making up for lost time now.

Dot’s cheerful post begins by congratulating him on his “successful plan” to get his parents to come to Great Lakes. All he had to do was hover around Death’s Door for a while… She recalls how thrilled she was to see her mother when she visited from Connecticut, so she’s aware of what his parents’ visit meant to Dart.

Commenting on Dart’s father’s hair being silver, she says it would have to be. When she can’t get to sleep at night, she tries to image what people she’s never seen look like. Recently, Mr. Peterson was her brain’s subject, and she pictured him with a full head of silver hair. Turns our, she was right. I remember my grandfather having such thick hair that he was still having his barber thin it out in his 70s when he died.

Dot’s final exams are in late April and the seniors usually leave campus in early May. She has a couple of concerns about what comes next. First, she must decide if she will do her practicum in the Cleveland area or return to Greenwich. Then, despite her emphatic statement that she had no interest in ever going to college, she finds now that she’d really like to go. She’s faced with all those questions about where to go, what to study, etc. In her usual modest fashion, she ends her musings with “After all is said and done, I’ll probably end up selling shoestrings in some little insignificant dime store.”

She reports that the Glee Club’s Founder’s Day concert is over. On one number, they were so flat that the director had to stop them three times to give them their pitch! Next stop – auditions for the Metropolitan Opera Company, says Dot.

Her work group is nearly finished with their cooking duties, to the relief of the girls who’ve had to eat the garbage they’ve created. On the bright side, no one has become seriously ill from their pathetic efforts.

This is a sweet letter from Dart, full of romantic sentiments that should brighten her Valentine’s Day when it reaches Willoughby.  Commenting on her report of bowling Mrs. Woodsworth over on the stairs in an effort to get to Dart’s latest letter, Dart writes, “Take it easy going up stairs like that. It’s hard on the heart and I want a good one to belong to me. I hope you’re getting a good one in return. At least it’s a pure one, and true.”

He writes how much he wishes he were with her that very evening – the night of her prom. He tried everything in his power to send her flowers again, but failed to find a way. “At least my heart is with you tonight, and I wish I were with my heart.”

He ends with a long and flowery love poem, tender and sincere.

This was a clever note from Dot, written on one of her prom tallies – what we might have called a “dance card.” In the spaces that fellas would have reserved a dance with Dot (if she had attended), she had written Dart’s name, along with little comments. She also says that he was the talk of the evening, among those girls who did not attend. The decorating committee even dedicated a heart to these two love birds. Everybody loves a lover!

Dart gets a romantic four pages out in response to Dot’s brief note written on the prom “tally.”

He writes that his fingers still tremble when he opens an envelope addressed by her hand. He had a particular thrill when he received this tally note, and has looked at it countless times. He writes “For some obscure reason it affects me. I read it, handle it, and regardless of who is in the room, I break out into a broad smile. A reverie – remembering another tally months ago.”

He goes on to re-tell the story of the dance tally from their first date. It was his return of that tally through the mail that launched their correspondence and this lovely relationship that blossomed.

He also recalls another moment from that first date in October. It was nearing time for the sailors to leave their “girls” and return to Case. Couples were walking across the Andrews campus, each one reluctant to see a wonderful evening end; each wondering if it would end with a kiss. “Finally, as if by a signal, everybody grabbed somebody (except me, who wondered too long what you would think about a kiss on the first date), and osculating couples were strung out along the walk.”

He ends the letter by telling her another snipet of rotten luck that has befallen them. He learned that had he not been struck by the measles/pneumonia combo, he would have received boot leave in time to escort Dot to her prom.  His two boot camp classes have both graduated and gone on with their lives as he has languished in the hospital.

Dot wrote a massive missive, recounting all the activities of a very busy graduation weekend. I can visualize the prom setting from her detailed description of the decorations. She talked about the happy chaos created when the graduating seniors returned to occupy their former rooms. The weekend was chock full of food, dancing and silliness to celebrate the graduation. You can assume from Dot’s cheerful account that she loves a good party. After finally getting to bed around 3:00 on Sunday morning, “Some religious soul who was going to church woke us up at 8:30, for which she is none the better.”

Dot mentioned that their weekend at home begins next Friday. Naturally, going to her home in Greenwich for just a weekend is not possible, so Dot will remain local. She and some of the other students plan a trip into Cleveland to fill their down time.

She thanks Dart for his Valentine poem and for his special thoughts of her on her prom night.

Dart’s letter starts with a “confession” that he received an additional Valentine besides Dot’s. (No worries – it came from one of his “Arsenic and Old Lace” maiden aunts.)

He talked a bit about the beautiful clear, cold day they were having in Chicago and wondering what the weather was like in Cleveland and Willoughby at that moment. His thoughts are never far from home, it seems.

In spite of his recent weight loss, he’s feeling almost fat today after the massive meal he consumed. The hospital pulled out all the stops that day to serve an outstanding dinner of T-bone steak and several side dishes. Dart was lucky enough to score two trays, and he consumed them both! The reason for this unusual feast was a rumor that Vice Admiral Ross McIntire (for whom the hospital was named) would be making a tour of the place that day. Everything was looking its best, but by late afternoon, there was still no sign of the Admiral.

Dart mentions his appreciation of the nice young Protestant chaplain who visits him daily. And he told Dot that he was able to hang on to his quiet semi-private room a little longer because his temperature is still slightly elevated. The latest exam by his doctor reveals that spending so much time on his back recently may have “squeezed out” the infection at the old surgical site, so a second operation may not be necessary after all. Potentially really good news! Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

He wraps up his newsy letter with a fairly random story of a two-week surveying trip he made into the wild interior of Ohio last summer. He and three classmates from Case shared a four-man tent, tramped over hills and valleys and created a beautiful map of the area. Dart seems to have thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Dot begins her letter by counting to 10. Does anyone still use that trick to control their anger? Well, she had just received his notice of the second surgery needed to repair the botched original procedure on his back, and she is furious! “Aren’t they aware that the only reason the war is not over is because they keep you sandwiched between the sheets?”

Switching gears, she goes on for quite a few lines about a question she’s been meaning to ask him for quite some time – one that has been nagging her for weeks. She really embellishes the seriousness of the question before finally having the nerve to ask it. “The question facing both of us is ‘Will Mutt ever be as tall as Jeff?'” That’s another cultural reference that is going the way of the dodo bird, I suspect.

At last she gets to the real crux of the letter – inviting him to be her escort at the spring prom on April 28. “Providing you haven’t the measles, mumps, whooping cough, pneumonia, back aches, cysts, appendicitis, or by that time rheumatism (in your old age), will you come to the spring prom?” Let’s hope these kids get a lucky break that would allow that to happen.

She admits to having made the cookies he enjoyed so much, but adds “…but one can hardly live on fudge and Toll House cookies, can one?” Well, I don’t see why one couldn’t try!

This is Dart’s shortest note yet, with no news and no letters to answer. He tells Dot that there is a slight chance he may get a 10-day sick leave when he’s released from the hospital, before returning to boot camp. Oh, how he wants that!

Dot’s offering is also very short – a simple Valentine card to which she adds the line “This holds a deeper meaning than you think.”

Dart was very impressed with Dot’s moment-by-moment account of the graduation weekend, and he took several pages to express his delight in her letter.

He regretted that she stayed home on prom night instead of joining the festivities. In his opinion, prom is an experience not to be missed in the life of an American teenager. He hinted that there was a long story involving his senior prom that he would certainly tell her someday. Hmmm…I hope he includes the story in a future letter so we can share it too.

There have been a number of minor references in the letters between these two indicating that neither of them is a big Sinatra fan. I thought everyone of that generation loved Sinatra – especially music lovers like Dot and Dart. Well, it seems that Dart is more impressed by Old Blue Eyes’ acting than by his singing, having heard good things about his role in “Higher and Higher.”  While on the subject of celebrities, Dart professed to be jealous when he read about Dot’s adoration of the aging star, Ronald Coleman.

He remarked that he truly enjoyed reading about her good times that weekend. It makes him miss his own good times a little less to read about hers.

Dart twice expressed the hope that when Dot is in Cleveland next weekend she will drop in on his parents. He very much likes the idea of all of his favorite people getting to know each other better.

News from his world included the fact that he is growing a beard. It looks like heck – scruffy and a weird mix of brown, red and orange, but he’s planning on sticking with it as long as the Navy lets him.

He was allowed to get out of bed for a few minutes this morning as the corpsman made the bed. The effort left him dizzy, weak and coughing hard. He really can’t handle a relapse!

After Dot expressed her anger at the Navy for the mess Dart finds himself in, he writes “Don’t lose your faith in the Navy. Even though I struck pay dirt, I still have my faith in the Navy. I just get a little ‘down’ once in awhile.” He scolds her for suggesting that she might be a jinx for him, considering his track record since meeting her. On the contrary – he believes she’s one of the nicest things that’s ever happened to him. The best thing she can do is continue to write her wonderful letters several times a week. “I love them, Dot, and I love you the more for them.”

Finally, he accepts her invitation the the prom on April 28, having no previous engagements. It’s good for both of them to have something to look forward to.

Dot begins her letter with an admission that she gets the same thrill when she sees his letters now as she got when she opened his first letter to her. His most recent one put her in such a beautiful state of mind for glee club practice that she sounded like Lily Pons’s dog. (I have no idea what that reference means. Mom, can you clear it up for me?)

She is excited to hear that he may not need an operation after all.

She ends her brief note with a story about two of her roommates who are now on cook duty. They decided to make a batch of cookies for the house. When the housemother saw the mass of batter they’d created, she explained the the recipe they’d used was for the cafeteria when they were cooking for the whole school! Dot is looking forward to cookies served at breakfast, lunch and dinner for days to come.

She signed off with a cryptic “I have a lot to say but no time to say it, so adios until tomorrow.”