Show kathleen kathlee n norris says no age Is safe for marriage bell Syn dicatO W ef rv vic lc I 1 cr oo 00 r T A t 57 CLA FLY will be 18 in april she and len fell me they will be married that day but married with or without it with my permission if possible anyway gy by KATHLEEN NORRIS is yan any marriage turn CAN I 1 out happily when the bride is only 18 a texas mother writes met me stand and when the husband only a year older has never done ell a days work in his life but has to depend upon n his father for support this is the case with my only and adored child lolita the letter goes on and it is breaking my heart for weeks I 1 have been unable to sleep for more than an hour or two at a time lying awake practically all night worrying worrying worrying lolita is madly in love leonard is as crazy as she is and their plans for the future have about as much practical sense as if they were babies of 3 and 41 leonards father tends rends him 75 a month and says he will continue to do so until the boy graduates a fund having been left for this purpose by his grandfather but that fund Is exhausted except for something only a little over a thousand now and when that Is gone what lolita wants me to give them a three room housekeeping apartment in my house as my contribution I 1 usually get 25 a month for it and she feels that if we run out of food we can always run in and have dinner with mother mother la despair this Is so 80 far from being my idea of a right and happy marriage tor for her that I 1 am in despair I 1 am a practical woman with a houseful of boarders I 1 have supported my daughter since my husband died iut but somehow I 1 dont seem to get on top ap of Us this particular worry knowing lillta I 1 know that she will throw herself into this new situation as it if it were it a game she was playing for awhile everything will be e fun and novelty and then like a child she will want to throw it all aside our religion does not permit second marriages when mien her fancy turns to someone else she will have to sacrifice either cither her faith or her happiness and it seems to me sons some times as if I 1 could not bear to watch this his process broceus of suffering ard dis going on do you not think that die ages of 18 and 20 are far too young for a woman and man to enter into the sacredness of marriage do you beleve leve as I 1 do that there should be laws aws forbidding marriage until both persons are say 25 years of age finally do you know of any argument or warning that will save this girl of mine from taking a step that may cost her years of bitterness she will be 18 in april she and den tell me pleasantly but firmly that they will be ba married that day with my permission and blessing if possible but married anyway with or without it no ago age Is safe this ills distracted mother chooses for her bar pseudonym thirty nine 11 so the was not much older than lolita when she herself was married louta evidently Js Is like her mother if a girl has been petted and spoiled polled indulged in everything brought up in ignorance ignorante of the simplest rules of cooking housekeeping budgeting it if she Is accustomed to having her own way in everything being praised and flattered and if consequently she Is impractical extravagant trava gant idle selfish then she wont make a good wife at 18 or 24 or 30 bilut but if on the other hand she to i a mi self effacing affection ate practical home loving and baby loving soul and really loves the young man whose fortunes she wants to share then the chances ot of their happiness are just as good as if 11 they were both 32 so what thirty nine ought to ask herself la Is not what sort of 0 a bride will she make but what sort of a woman have I 1 raised here anyway Is she going to develop as new responsibilities come along it counts on mothers help against Lo bolitas Loll litas taa marriage are these arguments that after so many years of devotion she Is willing to hurt and disobey her mother that she counts at the some same time upon much help from that same mother that when leonard graduates a year from june he still win will not have a job and the education fund established by his grandfather will be exhausted and that tha t her unwillingness to wait a year or two at her mothers earnest request indicates a certain hardness on the other hand young love Is a beautiful and educational thing in itself this ibis happy young couple settling down in mothers f furnished u apartment will be all the more anxious to prove themselves worthy ol of their new estate because of that same mothers misgivings lillta if she has good material in her at all will rejoice in her tiny establishment that Is in such contrast to the big boarding house in which she grew up and her mother till rill have the great joy of having her near nea and being able to help her with her problems it if a baby comes along there will be another tie and another great joy one lolita Loll ta of my acquaintance ran away with an unacceptable beau some years ago she was 18 the man 19 and their finances were in so low a state that they rented a garage for 5 a month and went on their wedding afternoon to loll 1011 tas father to ask him for the furnishing bishing of her room so that they could take possession of their new home the mother was prostrated over the elopement and could only moan feebly that they could have whatever they wanted so they took a frying pan and a dish towel along with their bedding and chair they lived in the garage three months the husband in college the wife selling childrens shoes from door to door tolled toiled for or seven years social life was out for them but occasional callers always brought a pound of coffee or a box of strawberries to leave in the corner of the garage where stood a table and a gas plate after ned was graduated he got a job in an oil station Hley Hl ayoung oung wife had a son and another son her young bloom faded she grew thin she was always tired two more babies come came along but there wag no question then and there is none today that she and ned truly loved each other |