Show KATHLEEN NORRIS many perfect marriages exist T LEAST WOMEN have writ A AT ton me in answer to an article of mine on the perfect wit wife e that they were the lucky companions of perfect husbands most of them admitted that well he exactly perfect to start with but after the first year or two when two young inexperienced persons had settled down to a certain amount ol of consideration and earn corn promise and appreciation of the fun ot of being together then suddenly he began to take the first steps toward being perfect and perhaps discovered in his turn that the wife he had was pretty near perfect too the way of it silence pat I 1 i e n c c confidence compromise work their inevitable miracle letter after letter on this subject of the perfect mate begins with the story of early failure we stuck together because we c do anything else writes one woman harry making any money regularly when shirley was two and another baby coming he deserted me the police found him when I 1 was in the city and county hospital with beverly ann harry came to see me and he cried and I 1 cried and we started all over only with more didies and cribs and bottles added to the dishes and dust and beds I 1 thought I 1 handle before had long talk arent we tunny we had a long talk and moved into an establishment men that was composed of a large room a glassed porch with two gas burners and a hopper with ft a V police jound johnd him faucet and a porch closet and were we happi I 1 now its six rooms front garden back garden washing machine twin boys radio refrigerator and car and now were keeping our twelfth anniversary 1 and well we II 11 write you again on our silver wedding the story right straight through not marrying happiness but making happiness out ot of mai marriage the writer of this last letter certainly had pretty poor materials with which to work but she made it when wo we had been married 15 months writes another woman we were so completely uncongenial and miserable that we made a compact I 1 was to be as good a wife as I 1 possibly could to greg until manny the man I 1 really loved came back from war service I 1 had loved lod this second nian man all through high school and business college but we had bad quarrelled quarrel led and I 1 had married greg in anger and resentment at manny this was w is in 1942 and manny come back until 1940 1946 so fco for foi tour four years greg and I 1 worked a at t making a temporary arrangement satisfactory we had two children I 1 wanted children a and d our coln compact pact included the disposition of any we might have school terms w with ith me christmas and long vacation with gregs greg s mother the perfect husband of course you know how it turned out tius this letter concluded manny came back and dined as an old friend with one of the most harmonious and devoted families in all america we tore up the compact and now when we speak of it we laugh and I 1 have the perfect husband altogether this report on perfect marriages has been very heartening to me there are lots of them A great many women tell me that playing fair with finances is one great secret dad being generous with mother mother not cheating dad being able to maintain silence in domestic crises is another clue letting dad share the responsibility of the children is an important thing it if mother stands between 1 them and their father tights fights their battles sacrifices her own pocket money tor for them tells lies to pro hect ther them a man begins to feel that he does not count at all and he wonders why on earth hes supporting this crowd of self absorbed persons god gave children two parents L n is not one all wise parent and one completely unconcerned supporter the lather father counts as much as the mother dut but t the he supreme secret of all these letters about perfect marriage is contained in a sentence from a wife in springfield ohio bill was jealous unreasonable bewildered critical worried and terribly tired for the first five years of our marriage writes edna le roy in the first 30 months I 1 had three babies I 1 was inexperienced and despairing I 1 had married at 17 and the future lo 10 looked a ked pretty dark then dill bill got ill and it seemed that our ship was sunk but friends rallied round a loan company stood by before we knew it we were on our feet a again ain during his illness I 1 had kissed dill bill goodnight good night the very last thing and said god bless my dear est and he says why he got well Us ile says he lay there s sick an and weak waiting for it and that he would quietly have died it if he got it |