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Show Kathleen Norris Says: About Hasty Weddings in Wartime Bell Syndicate WNU Featuree. Joe walked acrott the floor, held hi two big hand out to me and said, " Father hert will marry us will you take a chance with me, Julia?" By KATHLEEN NORRIS TAST week I went to two I weddings. One was a J- golden wedding and the other was a war wedding. The bride at the war wedding had known her man for something a little less than two months. But those who love her and those who know him are not afraid that they are making any mistake. The answer lies in the character char-acter of the two. The man is a fine, serious, affectionate, home -loving, mother -loving person who wears the uniform of the United States navy; the girl a loving, eager, generous, loyal little creature whose longing, through many a happy, hap-py, giddy time in her dancing and house-party days, has been true to one ideal; a husband hus-band to love, a home, children. "Those are great words," she said to me, with tears in her smiling eyes, when the exciting moment of going to the marriage license bureau bu-reau arrived. She looked about with radiant approval upon the couples, old and young, black and white and brown, who were streaming Into the city hall "For better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health. I MEAN those," she told the groom-to-be. '1 mean them, too," he added gravely. "And cherish," she said, laughing. laugh-ing. "I love that word! l am going to be the cherishlngest wife you ever saw!" "And the most cherished," he told her. And when, the next day, standing stand-ing in a glowing September garden, gar-den, we heard them make the solemn sol-emn promises, we believed them. Golden Wedding Hilarious Event. The golden wedding was an altogether alto-gether more hilarious affair, as a golden wedding has a right to be. Sons were there, a daughter, the sons' wives, the daughter's husband, nine grandchildren and approximately approxi-mately SO uncles, aunts, cousins and collaterals. Also a great-grandchild named Julia for her great-grandmother, aged five weeks old. There were a great many kisses, much blarney, bursts of laughter, attempted attempt-ed silencing of children, running up and down stairs. Ma wore a plum-colored silk and real Irish lace collar, but these didn't prevent her rushing into the kitchen to see to the turkey-roast-ing, or dashing upstairs to bubble lltUe Julia after her two-o'clock bottle. bot-tle. Ma and Dad got many presents; Dad has served the city of Brooklyn faithfully as a fireman for almost half-a-century; his friends came in during the day to add their congratulations congrat-ulations to the general uproar, and the heap of golden presents grew really formidable as the hours went on. Golden-rod and golden chrysanthemums, chrysan-themums, orange cakes, gold cakes, two gold-rimmed plates from the grandchildren, gold-framed photographs, photo-graphs, gold platters and boxes; the gold river flowed on into the night "Where did I meet Joe?" Ma said to me, when Julia, bottled and bubbled, bub-bled, had fallen asleep on her experienced ex-perienced shoulder, and wt bed a quiet moment together upstairs. "Well there was a time when I wouldn't have told you, but now I'll tell you bow It was. My cousin Anna was going to marry Joe, and the was playing fast and loose, she would and she wouldn't I'd never seen Joe, I was to meet him at my grandfather's house In Cork the Bight of the wedding. I was IT. "Wen, wt aU got to the house, nd do Anna. The priest was there. 'FOR RICHER OR POORER' Character is the answer to the question of whether or not to enter into a hasty wartime marriage. Here is the story of a couple who spent 50 ideal years together, yet they had never seen each other until 15 minutes before their marriage! Girls today must realize that their soldiers will return changed some for the better, some for the worse. Bills, a small income, and sacrifices of the early days of marriage are a sharp contrast to the light-hearted light-hearted days of honeymooning. honeymoon-ing. But strong characters can make these very difficulties a strengthening influence. and the family and friends, and there stood Joe, sailing that week for America and no Anna. And the last minute, when we were all as nervous as witches, didn't Anna's father stand up and say that to his shame he'd have to tell us that Anna nad backed down, she wouldn't marry anyone and go away from Ireland and l.er mother that she wouldn't not for ten Joe Moores. Substitute Bride. "Well, I began to cry. And when the priest spoke sharply to me and asked me why I would be crying, I spoke up the little shy thing that 1 was! and said that Joe looked like a good man and a kind one and 11 was a pity a girl like Anna would miss him! And at that Joe walked across the floor held his two big hands out to me and said, If Father Fa-ther here will marry us will you take a chance with me, Julia?' and the priest said to my mother, though she looked for 20 years she'd do no better.' And Joe and I sailed away that week with everyone's blessing, and me asking him on the ship did he take milk in his tea or didn't he! "And a good man he'a been to me," ended the bride of half-a-century, tears again in ber smiling eyes. "No woman ever had a better bet-ter I But I'd never laid eyes on him until IS minutes before I married him." These two true stories are in answer an-swer to the thousands of anxious mothers and wives who write me about the flood of wartime weddings that are engulfing the country. My general advice to the girls Is not to marry Just before the hardly-known groom sails away for foreign service. serv-ice. I've even warned them against engagements, for the man - who comes back from Kiska or Guad.il cnnal or Naples isn't going to be the man who went away, or rather, isn't going to be what the thought he was. He may be nicer, he may be not so nice. Whatever he In, he'U be different from your memory oi him. ' ' All the Ume he's gone you'll be imagining him. You'll nnturally build him up into something superhuman. super-human. When the other girls ask if he's handsome, generous, amusing, amus-ing, smart your answer will ol course be a dreamy ecstatic "Xes." Certainly he was handsome In hit new uniform; of course he was generous gen-erous on that hurried three-day honeymoon. hon-eymoon. He must be smart because be-cause he was offered a really fine job when he graduated from college, col-lege, only of course, being drafted, ht couldn't accept It Troubles Ahead In Marriage. But when he comes back it won't be honeymoon, Your first budget may be $20 a week. Bills, uncertainties, uncer-tainties, and economies may complicate compli-cate your first year together. Are you willing to fact that courageously? |