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Show Kathleen Norris Says: Moral Code Result of Long Struggle (Bell Syndicate WNU Service.) I aMmi M )m b vMfiw Soma women never cease getting into romantic mischief. They go on into wrinkles and gray hair, mill looking for conquests, still secretly proud because men continue to bt $elfuhly attentive to them. fiy KATHLEEN NORRIS TWO words that used to play an enormous part in American family life are "duty" and "morality." These terms went out of fashion a long while ago; our younger generation wouldn't know how to apply them to general behavior. Duty, they think, means doing certain disagreeable things whether you want to or not. And what a nerve anyone any-one has to tell you what you should or shouldn't do! Morality means not lying, not talking scandal, keeping your word, keeping your thoughts and your actions pure, conquering in your soul, as much as you can, feelings of hate, revenge, jealousy, lust, anger. Not being intemperate. Not being proud. Not being selfish. "Isn't it comfortable to be good?" one of the wisest women 1 know A WORD TO THE WISE What a pity we are so reluctant re-luctant to heed good advice! Children don't like to hear about such disagreeable things as "duty" and "morality." And when an older woman tells a younger one that the way to insure the happiness of her marriage is by patience, tolerance and forgiveness, the younger woman is likely to say something about not want-ting want-ting to be a martyr. But the prevalence of this attitude does not alter the fact that only through obeying the rules of morality can we achieve that larger freedom which is so different from mere willfulness will-fulness and which is the only real basis for a lasting happiness. happi-ness. Let Kathleen Norris tell you why she might have helped the Georgianna of this letter if she had knoivn her mother twenty years ago. saia one day. Secret of Married Bliss. So that when an old wife talks to a younger one, and advises her to make humility and patience, forgiveness for-giveness and understanding a part of her wedding outfit, she is not advocating ad-vocating a course that leads to martyrdom. mar-tyrdom. She is giving the bride the secret of married happiness. She is telling her that she will be happier hap-pier in the long run, will indeed be one of the truly successful and contented con-tented women of the world, if she goes into matrimony armed with a sense of duty and a strong determination deter-mination to keep the moral law. Once that law is accepted firmly nothing else matters. Here is a letter from a woman whose experience unfortunately is enmpuhnt tvrtlinl fnrlav Tt la 4ucf "I went to Reno, and feeling lonely lone-ly and blue, associated there with a group of very rich people who thought of only good times. Among them was an attractive man of 50 who devoted himself to me. I confess con-fess that my mood was one of recklessness reck-lessness and irresponsibility. I made several trips with him to San Francisco and let him make me some very handsome gifts. "But all the while my heart was steadily turning back to Frank, and the security and happiness we had known in our home, with our beautiful beau-tiful little girl. I longed for them both, and for my husband's advice and understanding. When I received re-ceived a letter from him saying that he felt the same way, and that Tanva nppHpH hr mnthpr mv hort possible that if some good mother, 20 years ago, had given her a sound respect for morality and duty her story might have been different. "Twelve years ago 1 was madly in love with a doctor I will call Bill," she writes me. "He loved me, too, but he didn't want to get married. It hurt my pride to be the one most In love, but there was no help for it, and even though I knew he wasn't any paragon, I was weak enough to give him everything he asked. First Love Renewed. "After awhile he went away, and I formed a deep affection for another an-other man, Frank. Frank was the one in love now, but I liked him so much that eventually we were married, had a nice home, and a son and daughter. Five years ago we lost our boy, a grief that caused me a serious illness. In this illness I mv nftnl" urae Tlill urhr, ViaA nrtmo was filled with joy for the first time in years. But 'the Squire,' as I call my Reno friend, also wants me to marry him. He has been three times divorced, but in two cases it has been to free his wife for a marriage mar-riage she desired. The first time it was from a woman 28 years his senior; he was but 27 then. Seeks True Happiness. "Can you help me find my way to true happiness through this mesh of mistakes? I know I am a foolish, weak woman, although I have never consciously done anything that could hurt anyone but myself. But I do want to be happy even though I am 32 now and don't expect the raptures of young love again. The Squire has little money, but he lives in New York and knows everyone worth knowing. To go back to Frank, on the other hand, means my old environment, my old friends. back to town, and soon the old infatuation in-fatuation took possession of us both, with Bill the more ardent this time. He was married now and had two little girls. "Frank discovered our alTair and was heartbroken, as I was also, for he had always been the kindest and best of husbands, and had never 1 known of my affair with Bill. We were divorced, and Bill was divorced by his wife, and he and I were married.' mar-ried.' Wretchedly unsuited to each oJiier, this union was doomed from the first; Bill was always talking about his first wife and how wonderful wonder-ful she was, and I soon discovered discov-ered that he was taking his daughters daugh-ters to lunch once a week and that often she joined them. wisdom?" Georgianna, who writes this letter, let-ter, includes a picture of herself, a pardonable bit of vanity, for she is a beautiful woman. Slim, well-dressed, well-dressed, with a smart hat sweeping off her face and her hands in the pockets of a magnificent fur coat, she looks capable of getting into a lot more mischief before she is through. Such women, in truth, never get through. They go on into wrinkies and crimps and gray hair still looking for conquests. I have no advice for her. She wouldn't take it anyway. But if I had known her mother 20 years ago I might have been able to say something some-thing that would have been helpful Something about morality and duty. |