Dan and Ricky Across Generations

The Door into Summer

Dan's relationship with Ricky evolves from protective affection toward an adult partnership, testing whether a childhood promise can become a freely chosen marriage.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

Uncle Danny Uncle Danny from "The Door into Summer". Uncle Danny A respectful friendship Dan treats Ricky as an individual when she is a child, sharing responsibility for Pete and taking her interests seriously.

Uncle Danny from "The Door into Summer". Uncle Danny A respectful friendship Dan treats Ricky as an individual when she is a child, sharing responsibility for Pete and taking her interests seriously.

Uncle Danny A respectful friendship Dan treats Ricky as an individual when she is a child, sharing responsibility for Pete and taking her interests seriously. Their bond rests on respect rather than the casual affection adults often impose on children. A promise interrupted Ricky once imagines a future in which she and Dan will care for Pete together. Dan regards the idea as a game, but her feeling is more serious than he understands.

Ricky's Warning Ricky's Warning from "The Door into Summer". Ricky's Warning Dislike without words Ricky intensely dislikes Belle but expresses it mostly through silence and avoidance.

Ricky's Warning from "The Door into Summer". Ricky's Warning Dislike without words Ricky intensely dislikes Belle but expresses it mostly through silence and avoidance.

Ricky's Warning Dislike without words Ricky intensely dislikes Belle but expresses it mostly through silence and avoidance. Dan notices the hostility but assumes it will fade as the child gets to know Belle better. A missed insight Ricky understands more than Dan allows himself to admit. His failure to trust her perception becomes an early sign that his infatuation is distorting his judgment.

The Camp Farewell The Camp Farewell from "The Door into Summer". The Camp Farewell A visit before sleep Dan returns to Ricky with Pete and tells her that he must enter cold sleep for thirty years.

The Camp Farewell from "The Door into Summer". The Camp Farewell A visit before sleep Dan returns to Ricky with Pete and tells her that he must enter cold sleep for thirty years.

The Camp Farewell A visit before sleep Dan returns to Ricky with Pete and tells her that he must enter cold sleep for thirty years. Ricky has just made plans to leave Miles and live with her grandmother, so their meeting occurs at a moment when both must choose a new path. A promise with conditions Ricky refuses Dan's money as a substitute for his presence, then asks if he will marry her if she wakes in his future. He says yes and gives her instructions that preserve her freedom to decide later.

A Ring Through Time A Ring Through Time from "The Door into Summer". A Ring Through Time A token kept Dan gives Ricky his class ring and she insists that she will not want another one.

A Ring Through Time from "The Door into Summer". A Ring Through Time A token kept Dan gives Ricky his class ring and she insists that she will not want another one.

A Ring Through Time A token kept Dan gives Ricky his class ring and she insists that she will not want another one. The ring carries the seriousness of their promise through years in which they cannot see one another. Two acts of faith Dan trusts Ricky to choose whether to sleep, while she trusts that he will be waiting if she does. Their connection survives not through constant contact but through a clearly stated future commitment.

From Promise to Marriage From Promise to Marriage from "The Door into Summer". From Promise to Marriage Recognition restored Ricky wakes when Dan arrives and recognizes him immediately.

From Promise to Marriage from "The Door into Summer". From Promise to Marriage Recognition restored Ricky wakes when Dan arrives and recognizes him immediately.

From Promise to Marriage Recognition restored Ricky wakes when Dan arrives and recognizes him immediately. The reunion answers their pact without requiring either to pretend that the lost years never happened. A chosen marriage The two marry in Yuma and begin their life together. Their adult relationship grows from a childhood bond, but its resolution depends on Ricky's independent choice to meet Dan again.

Ricky's childhood in New Mexico and California

During Belle's rise in the company

December 1970, at Girl Scout camp

December 1970 to May 2001

1 May 2001, in Riverside and Yuma