Show kathleen Norris Says dodge thong ht of ing bell syndicate 3 aa 1 4 4 tv whatever she Is when she is ola and to her forty five is old su knows shell hate it so why worry about it by KATHLEEN NORRIS oniabe be one of those DONT D women to whom only beauty money and a good digestion are important in life dont be one of the mi millions lyions who consider ea eating ting and drinking amusements and parties flirt flirtations actions and gay companies smooth hair and smooth skin the real objects and alms aims of existence all these things are fun in mild doses but there is only one companion who goes with you to the end and yourself find that companion cultivate her give her anaste a taste tor for the things that last before it is too late women dons dont think enough about this when they are young they feel that age never will come and when it does come it finds them utterly unprepared these ripe years which ought to be the very best of all strike them like a thunderbolt th dyve never consid considered ered the financial side of 0 f them never considered the social or domestic side of them never considered t the moral side of them twenty five years ago to be sure 25 years ago peggy married gaily enough 1 leaving caving her own father and mother alone and when that mother was widowed peggy shed dutiful tears ears for her lost father and felt quite sorry for mother e r who was immediately plunged into money difficulties but all this affect peggy persona personally ily at all SHE never thinks of herself as fifty and alone SHE never will be widowed her one child married her entire provision tor for old age a small life insurance policy when hen these inevitable conditions arise in her own case peggy is shocked and despairing all her plans have included herself as important por tant attractive and protected by john but now her daughter is married and gone her husband dead she must give up her home and in bar bitterness and loss she feels that there is nothing lett left she very probably sinks into the limbo of those hose unhappy lonely little women who live only in their childs life complaining remembering grieving burden on others instead of having that child depend upon her and halt half envy mothers independence free freedom freedora dorp high spirits peggy becomes a burden upon the younger family her conversation becomes a long dreary recital of what glories and possessions she once had bad she cannot sufficient ly y reiterate the trials the dismalness of age when you get to her age she says you might as well be dead and goodness knows she often wishes she were dead now since you know you women of 25 30 40 that this time must come why not prepare tor for it why not defeat it of its horrors it can C an be the most serene the most atrium period of your whole life it t can be a time of harvest rather than ban ot of famine older women different for in the years after 45 a woman can be herself express herself live her awn own life as she biever never can in younger years no girl Js is so use less ess so defeated and unhappy as the girl who tries to be independent in rushing off to paris or into some unknown field of endeavor she only proves to herself that she has thrown away the honest beginnings of life refused to play the game by rule and beside making herself ridiculous di has mide made it practically im possible to get bick back to a real start with the older woman it is differ I 1 eat she has served edher her apprentice your companion maybe aa you never stopped to think about il says kathleen norris but there really llev is 4 0 only one companion companion om panion that you have throughout ho your ule life and eu that 1 is YOU finding out just what that companion is like what she wants and want what she needs and need i is s the job eve every I 1 woman wa ni should take upon n h herself erse Z age 4 ge creeps a up on a person and all li the he things ar that I 1 seem important to young women arent really that important find out what you need to prepare for old age pre prepare pare yourself for it and it will be the happiest period of your life dont prepare lepare and you it II live to regret that you ship she has been daughter wife mother housekeeper tor for a long quarter ot of a century and thesa have been happy years proud years years full of the joys ot of trips and and frocks parties and flattery and self confidence but they have vanished now and now comes HER time the time when she can be most truly and W wholly holly herself her small house Is a ve veritable kingdom with its garden its dog or its cats its visits from adored grandchildren its quieter visits fromhold from old friends in planning trips in club work and charities in easy hours and easy dressing and games of dominoes dominges dom inoes or cribbage or backgammon with a few tried and true neighbors and friends are real pleasure if the companion of her youth Is still beside her au all this felicity is doubled but even if he Is not rich and ripe and useful living is still hers tame and uninteresting now unfortunately this paradise of the middle years sounds extremely dull to yo youth uth it sounds tame and uninteresting to the last degree youth never will change ideals with age it hates the thought age is no more convinced that it never will be youth than is youth sure it never can grow old and so many a woman who could be planning now tor for her later years draws away in repugnance from the thought of them whatever she is when ashes old and to her 45 is 11 old she knows shell hate it so why think about it why train her character to delre 5 what is true and lasting why search into her own soul and develop its miraculous resources why deny herself and the children superfluous luxuries and gances now to gain the superlative comfort of financial security tor for her old age why form a taste for fine books for language study for gardening for any one of a hundred interests and avocations when today there are movies and beauty parlors and flirtations and night clubs to fill her time what is the answer ask yourself why answer Is apparent the answer is that if you knew that in 25 or 30 years you had to m move ove to a strange country a country in which which the eyes you use now could coul d seii see nothing in which your present presen t ears could hear nothing of whose language and customs you know nothing you would certainly prepare to make that change you would study the conditions the limitations and opportunities of the people of that country master its language cultivate a few friends who mu must 8 t make that journey with yo you beu middle age old age can be a long peaceful holiday A useful h holiday ol 01 not by any means meana adidge an idle holiday but a happy time in which a woman who has done her honest share chare of living in the younger years can find and endless interest a thousand absorbing occupations complete peace of spirit something worth |