| Show 1 r Z r e. e a N Norris orris Says No o Age e Is s Safe for or Marriage Bell Syndicate Syndicate Service ht a r r I l J 1 a 1 I t F ft I. I r 11 1 C p. p f ft 1 t ci Ry 4 lita will trill be 18 in April She and Len tell me thC they will be married that day with F Fa fission if possible but married anyway with or without it 1 ty KATHLEEN NORRIS i fAN AN any marriage turnout turn I out happily when the thet t b bride is only 18 a aas aas aas ab as mother writes me and 8 ti the husband only a year r done days day's daysEl 1 r r I has never a El in in his life but has to de- de deJ J upon his father for sup- sup j This is the case with my only t factored adored child Lolita the ther r goes on and it is breaky break- break my y heart For weeks I have i unable to sleep for more morean an i hour or two at a time g awake practically all St worrying it-worrying worrying wor- wor ig g Lolita is madly in love nard is as crazy as she is their plans for the future 7 Te e about as much practical e as if they were babies of id 4 i Leonard's Leonards onard's father sends him 75 a arth rth t 1 and says he will continue to toJ until J the boy graduates a fund rig g been left for this purpose by grandfather But that fund is exIted exited ex ex- ted except for something only Hie Itle over a thousand now and fT that is gone what Olita wants me to give them a I. I J room housekeeping apartment ny py y house as my contribution I II I illy fly lly get 25 a month for it And that if we run out of food I can an always run in and have din- din with Mother V 1 Mother in Despair This is is so far from being my mya a lof of a right and happy marriage ber er that I am in despair I am ams tactical s woman with a houseful F J Boarders I have supported my 1 since my husband died somehow o I dont don't seem to o get on 1 tT u i i Hof OI this particular worry I owing flowing Lolita I know that she shel l throw throw herself into this new situ- situ m as if it were a game she was king ing For awhile everything will rt jUn 1 n and novelty and then like a ashe Ashe she will want to throw it allI all I e. e Our religion does not permit j nd marriages when her fancy i to someone else she will have either her faith or her I iness and it seems to me somes some- some s s as if I could not bear to watch process process of suffering and dis- dis going on o o you not think that the ages of ot nd nd d 20 are far too young for a aan aan aan an an and m man m to enter into the edness of marriage Do you beas be- be beas beas as I do that there should be forbidding marriage until both bothI I ons ns are say are say 25 years of age fly lly ly do you know of any argut t f tor or warning that will save this ai of f mine from taking a step that y 1 cost her years of bitterness I- I I'S e will be 18 in April She and tell me pleasantly but firmly fit t Ii they will be married that day 4 my permission and blessing if sible ble but married anyway with i Without it s r No Age Is Safe His is distracted mother chooses for forI fort t I pseudonym Thirty So was was as not much older than Lolita she herself was married Lo Lo- iY 01 is like her mother 1 a girl has been petted and Jd ed indulged in everything up in ignorance of the sim- sim tt t t rules of cooking housekeeping eting if she is accustomed to tog tog tog g her own way in everything praised and flattered and if she is impractical ex- ex gant idle selfish then she shet Rt t make a good wife at 18 or orr orr r 30 jut t if on the other hand she is a self-effacing self affection affection- II practical loving home-loving an and d loving iy-loving soul and really lo loves love es ds s i 1 ii L SHOULD SHE WAIT Lolita is 18 She wants to marry marry mar mar- ry a boy only a year older who is not yet et through school and who has never done a days day's work Should she wait Will their marriage fail jail because they are so young Kathleen Norris believes they should perhaps wait a year or two but youth alone will not keep leep them from making a success success success suc suc- cess of marriage i if f they have courage patience and a sense of responsibility Without those qualities of character they could not succeed at any age the young man whose fortunes she wants to share then the chances of their happiness are just as good as if they were both 32 So what Thirty nine ought to ask herself is not What sort of a bride will she make but What sort of a woman have I raised here anyway Is she going to develop as new responsibilities ties come along Counts on Mothers Mother's Help Against Lolita's marriage are these arguments that after so many years of devotion she is willing willing willing will will- ing to hurt and disobey her mother That she counts at the same time upon much help from that same mother That when Leonard graduates graduates graduates ates a year from June he still will not have a job and the education fund established by his grandfather will be exhausted And that her unwillingness unwillingness unwillingness un un- willingness to wait a year or two at ather ather ather her mothers mother's earnest request indiCates indicates indi indio cates a certain hardness and stubbornness stubbornness stubbornness stub stub- that do not auger any too well for the future On n the t other ther hand young ou g love is is s i I a beautiful and educational thing m in itself This happy young couple settling settling settling set set- down in mothers mother's furnished apartment will be all the more anxious anxious anxious ious to prove themselves worthy of their new estate because of that same mothers mother's misgivings Lolita if she has good material in her at all will rejoice in her tiny establishment that is is m in such contrast coni contrast con con- to the big boarding house in inI which she grew up and her mother will have the great joy of having her near and being able to help her with her problems If a baby comes along there will be another tie tic and another great joy One Lolita of my acquaintance ran away with an unacceptable beau some 12 years ago She was 18 the theman theman themar man mar 19 and the their finances m w were re in i so low a state that they rented a garage for 5 a month and went on their wedding afternoon to Loli tas father to ask him for the furnishing furnishing furnishing fur fur- of her room so that they could take possession of their new home The mother motheL was prostrated over the elopement and could only moan feebly that they could have whatever whatever whatever what what- ever 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 in college the wife selling selling selling sell sell- ing childrens children's shoes from door to door Toiled for lor Seven Y Years cars Social life llie was out for them but occasional callers always brought a pound of coffee or a box of strawberries strawberries strawberries straw straw- berries to leave in the corner of the garage where stood a table and a gas After Ned was graduated he got a n ajob ajob job in an oil station His young wife had a son and another son Her young bloom faded she grew thin she was always tired Two more babies came along But there was no question then and there is none today that she and Ned truly loved I each other |
