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Show ! H BIRTHDAYS "; $ By THOMAS ARK.LE CLARK $ v v Vj. Dean of Men, University of JJ & Illinois. ? y " . i uLIOW old Is Mrs. Brown?" some' one asked me a short time ng. ' We have known the Browns a long j time 10 years or more and Mrs. Brown was middle-aged then. I had to answer that I didn't know. Age and birthdays are subjects which Mrs. j Brown does not refer to. Even her ; children are uncertain as to just when she was born. She is eighty-five If she j is a day. She is ninety very likely, j but she doesn't look It and she Is giv- j ing nothing away. She quit having . birthdays forty or fifty years ago. j There are no milestones of progress In her journey of life. She goes right along without regard to time or distance. dis-tance. If anyone should be rude enough to ask her how old she is, 1 am sure she would evade the question , or ignore it. It is her own business and she doesn't care to have people know. about it. Now Mrs. Groves takes quite another an-other view of the question. She Is proud of her age, she takes every occasion oc-casion to flaunt it in one's face. She is constantly reminiscent giving with exactness the time and place and date. "That was in 1S40," she will announce an-nounce when relating some tale of early life in the Middle West, or referring re-ferring to some occurrence, of her childhood. "I must have been live, or six years old then five I guess it was." Then she goes on with her story leaving one to make the easy mathematical calculation which determines deter-mines her present age. She dotes upon birthdays and never lots her friends forget when hers is approaching so that there may he cakes and candles and remembrances remem-brances of various sorts. She Invites in her friends and sits in state while receiving congratulations on her-healtli her-healtli and htr youthful appearance and the fact that she does not look anything near her age. She recounts all that has happened to her during the past year. A birthday to her means progress progress in making friends, in experience, In mental development. de-velopment. It brings her nearer to the end of life which to her is an adventure ad-venture full of interest and possibilities. possibili-ties. Little Jean is to have a birthday soon, she was telling me today. "Do vou know how old I'll be?" she asked. "Four," I ventured. '"Five," she corrected me proudly. "Do you know how many days it Is still?" she inquired eagerly. I could only guess. "Do you know what day of the week it Is?" she went on. I ventured to suggest Friday and luckily was correct. cor-rect. I She was eager for the time to come when she cuuld announce that she was a year older than she had ever been before. She was going to school the next year. Birthdays for little .lean meant new experiences, new friends, new adventures. There was the myslery of gifts which she was sure she would receive. There was the eagerness for independence, for greater freedom, for growth, for added responsibility. It was a great thins to have n birthday. Hope and ambi tion welled in her little heart. Would that each birthday brought to each .of us the same enthusiasm the same nmhition ! ((c). Hi23. WrMcrn .NpwRpnper Union.) |