Hi Sis.

Harry wasn’t kidding when he saidHawaiiis the best berth in the army. It is so beautiful here. This isn’t just a beach like Coney — it’s like Hashem created the sand here by taking diamonds and crushing them. And the palm trees! We’re assigned toFortShafter which is a whole lot nicer than Crowder and the training is interesting and guess what? No ten-mile runs.

Here we mostly use our brains — if they don’t melt in the tropical sun ha ha. I have some great stuff to eat — the guys go fishing in their spare time (yes here we have spare time not like inMissouri!) and they catch something they call mahi-mahi that has scales and fins and they give them to me. Delicious! Mrs. Horn should start cooking in an army helmet over a primus stove. Tell her that from me.

And also tell your “friend” Abe (hmmm???) that I haven’t gone surfing yet but next week on our Sunday liberty we’re planning to take an airplane flight over the island. Costs a bundle but Lu’s cousin says it’s worth everyLincolnpenny. And it sure beats theSeaBeach!!! And even Abe’sPontiac I’ll bet.

Love

Moey

8 :14 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)

Annie put her brother’s letter back into its onion skin envelope. ThoughHawaiiseemed so far away she was happy he was having a good time and that army life was not as hard as it had been originally.

It was easy to be happy today; she was meeting Mr. Levine at eleven o’clock. They’d only had one meeting since that memorable day when he brought Moey back home. They’d spent a few lovely hours together chatting as they walked down the grassy trails of a local park. When he brought her back to the hotel (no hidden boarders anymore — as the man who’d brought Moe home to them he was quite the celebrity) he had told her that the next two weeks he’d be busy studying for and taking final examinations and he wouldn’t have a minute to himself.

But he promised right after the tests were over they would spend an entire Sunday together. Annie had put the date down carefully on her calendar. She was ashamed to admit at least once a day her eyes fell on the square that marked the day of their next meeting: December 7 1941.

9:22 a.m. (EST)

Abe gazed at the mirror and pulled a little at the deep blue of his necktie. The Windsor knot had to be absolutely perfect.

He saw the reflection of an older woman coming up behind him a smile half-indulgent half-mocking on her face. Leaving the knot for later he turned around and faced his Bubbe.

“You really are handsome enough Abie without the folderols” she said giving his face an affectionate pat.

“That’s because I look like you” he countered laughing.

“So where are you taking her today?”

“To the boardwalk.”

“Again? Why not drive to someplace different?”

His merry eyes grew serious. “I don’t think she’d be comfortable driving alone with a man in a car. That’s one of the things I like best about her Bubbe: She is quietly secure in her beliefs. A very unusual girl.”