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Show Kathleen Norris Says: Tie Roving Husband Bell Syndicate. WNU Features. "What you have to do, Rhoda, is to gel it through your head once and lor all that you hold all the cards. Don't throw down your hand; call his bluff." By KATHLEEN NORRIS EXACTLY how much hard, conscious effort are you making to keep your home atmosphere nor-. nor-. mal in this dreadful time? Ex-' Ex-' actly how clearly do you real-, real-, ize that extraordinary good-i good-i ness and strength and unself-' unself-' ishness are being demanded 1 of every one of us; that we are being given a test beyond anything any-thing our forbears ever knew? 1 We have to keep ourselves sane j in a world gone insane, and pre-' pre-' j serve for those about us, and for J j the boys when they come home, something of the goodness and hero-) hero-) Ism and wisdom that has made America what she is. " Anyone who doesn't recognize the situation, and doesn't rise to it, is 1 failing America just as much as if ' j he were a sentry asleep at his post. But unfortunately there are a good " j many men and women who are ' drifting along in the old lazy way, -1 making their concessions to the r I times only in complaints and pro-1 pro-1 tests against war inconveniences. ' Here Is the case of a husband and wife "whose lives seem un-3 un-3 touched by the world conflagration, ' but who are obviously suffering " from the nervous strain that is over us all. ' Rhoda is 37. She has been mar-1 mar-1 ried 11 years, and has three daugh- ters, 10, 9 and 3 years of age. The f middle child is a polio case and . will never be well. Rhoda's hus-r hus-r band .is a dentist, 40 years old, and formerly a devoted husband and i father, especially close to Tanya, P the handicapped child, s A Pretty Nurse. 1 But in the last year, Rhoda writes r me, Lew has changed. He has f grown Irritable and silent at home, f he is often away. The cause is a s pretty grass widow of 26, who is r a nurse in his office. There seems f to be no question that Lew is in-faruated, in-faruated, and while he doesn'l e talk of a divorce, Rhoda believes f that that is what he would ask if he 0 dared. a "But he'd better not get that far," e says Rhoda's letter. "It would ruir s his practice in this town, where my e father and mother are much be- 01 loved, and he could hardly estab lish himself anywhere else, for he is e almost entirely deaf, s "I do all the work of my house, if with the older girl's help. 1 1- bathe, feed, amuse my darling little invalid, and manage that my babj 3, has plenty of fresh air. Washing d cooking, dusting, planning are al r up to me; certainly I show th( ;- fatigue and weariness that I fee d at night; I am human, I get tired )f i discouraged, Impatient, nervous h 1 1 know It. But most of the tim d I am the mother the girls adore a I and the cook and housekeeper tha n j other women copy and consult, is "Mrs. Norris, Lew spends most o: n his money on this woman. Hi takes her home two miles out o d his way, every night, and oftei p takes her out to dinner. They havi d been seen dancing. They have spen y, nights together at the Mountain Inn :e His present to her this year was i t, squirrel coat; I have never had i ft fur coat. He sent me soap and per i. : fume, and the girls toys anc id dresses; she picked them out, A CHANCE TO LET DOWN The emotional stress of war effects everyone. Many find new strength, unsuspected courage when crisis come. Others discover that the social upset gives them a chance to do what theyve always secretly secret-ly longed do, but refrained from because of public disapproval. disap-proval. The 40-year-old dentist discussed dis-cussed in this issue is a case in point. He has developed a passion pas-sion for his office nurse, a pretty pret-ty divorcee of 26. She is going along with him, taking his presents and entertainment. His wife, Rhoda, writes that she is "desperate." She has thought of suicide. His coldness cold-ness and cruelty are "driving her crazy9 suppose. He was away then, fo: four days, and I think she was wit! him, though his story to me was tha she was sick, at her married sis ter's house. "He seems a different person; h hardly seems sane. We have alway loved each other; I feel as if couldn't stand his complacency, hi silences, his coldness and cruelt; any longer. But what life do make for myself, tired, Reeling 2 years older than I am, with thre children to raise on alimony? I'v thought of suicide, I've thought c everything, I'm desperate. Tel me what to do.' What you have to do, Rhoda, i i to get it through your head one i and for all that you hold all th cards. Don't throw down your hand call his bluff. Take the attitude tha i Dolly is being something of i fool a generous fool, of course, bu nevertheless a fool, to take up wit : a married man, partially deaf, wit i three children. Wake her up in th : night every week, asking if Lew i there; some patient wants hirr Make yourself over with a nei i frock and a changed hair-do. ' Appear Happy. Be happily busy and absorbe with your girls, almost rueful whe i Lew decides to come home for dir ner. A pretty happy wife, in prett , lounging pajamas, laughing over supper of milk-toast and cookie: i with her children around her, is ' mighty attractive thing on a col . night. Resolutely refuse a divorci 1 Following these tactics you'll fin i yourself happy again, and happines 1 is the one thing that draws a ma , back. As he tires of Dolly's charm - they always do yours will begi i to gain on him. Then treat the who! , thing as a sickness a weaknesi t which it is, and go into a new n lationship of confidence and affei f tion with a changed man. To me ; these adventures on the side ar f not nearly as important as to the; i wives; he can have no respect fc the complaisant Dolly, and what fc t does feel for her is not a lastin thing, as everyone knows, i Concede him this period of i: i responsibility in a crazy world, an - don't let it seriously jeopardiz 3 your lasting happiness and si I curity. Care of Wool Garments Because the shock of freezln S shrinks and hardens wool. It is usua S ly best to dry woolen washables ii doors in cold weather. 3 If wool clothes get wet or mudd; . dry them slowly at room warmti p never close to a stove or radiate i' and brush clean when dry. When a wool garment gets a re: ' after a day or two of wear, th wool springs back and som 3 wrinkles drop out, ao less pressin Is needed. a" Be absorbed in your children. ... I |