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Show Kathleen Norris Says: Pitying Yourself Is Wasted Effort Bell Syndicate. WNU Features. She has nursed uhat she calls "the cruel injustice o Mania's uilL." By KATHLEEN NORRIS SOME years ago an elderly elder-ly woman died, leaving two daughters, both married. mar-ried. When her will was read it was discovered that she had left most of her estate, which approximated about $40,000, to her elder daughter, who was unmarried at the time the will was written. The younger daughter, Dolores, Do-lores, whose husband was a prosperous man, got her fair share of rugs, laces, china. She got a store and the flat above it, valued at about $10,000. Everything else went to Yvonne. But Yvonne had married well, too. She complacently took her large share of the inheritance, even though a good many persons felt that under the circumstances Dolores Do-lores should have had half. Things went on for a year or two, and then, lost in a book, another later will was tound making a fair even division of the estate. This was awkward or Yvonne and her husband; they bad spent, invested, shifted things about, they had to put up far more security than was normal for this was in the heart of the depression, and values were low. It seriously cramped and embarrassed them; in the end Dolores got the old homestead, home-stead, too. That was more than 20 years ago. The sisters have never been friends since. Dolores would be amiable enough, for she has no grievance, but Yvonne is adamant. She has nursed what she calls the "cruel injustice of mama's will." Her husband hus-band tells you gravely that she "never will get over it." Her daughter daugh-ter repeats resentfully that once "Aunt Dolores did something horrible hor-rible to mama." If you ask Yvonne straight out what was unjust, what was horrible about it, she purses up her lips, sighs and says that no one will ever know what it did to her nerves, and she never can forgive for-give Dolores. Smouldering Bitterness. Yvonne and Alan have done well. They have a handsome home, two cars, country club membership, a large circle of friends. Their only son had a good war record; their .only daughter is married well. But Yvonne grieves on. That Dolores should have gotten the amythyst set and the store, and then, when Alan's fortunes were at their lowest, should have come in with this claim for so much more it's just not bearable. Yvonne has ruined her own life, smouldering for all these years over Dolores' luck. Had her mother been without means and dependent upon Alan and Yvonne, no such situation could have arisen. Thousands of old persons per-sons are entirely without financial finan-cial resources; that might have been her case. Her son might have been lost in the war, as so many thousands of boys were. Her daughter's daugh-ter's painful cold and fever last winter win-ter might have been infantile paralysis. paral-ysis. Alan might fall in love with some younger and more fascinating fascinat-ing woman. She herself might be told, by the family doctor, that the annoying little lump in her side meant long and agonizing illness. ill-ness. There are real troubles in this life and these are a few of them. But to go on brooding over a property prop-erty division that was decided unfairly un-fairly in her favor in the first place, exaggerate it and dwell on it, to embitter em-bitter family relations and convince con-vince her own family that mother received a staggering and unforgettable unforget-table blow this is sheer stupidity. This life for most of us is a trip over perilous rapids; we have to steer through dangerous waters from the time we leave mother's i protecting wing. Unless we can forget for-get the lost ring, the missed opportunity; oppor-tunity; the bad investment, the careless sentence overheard, we are leading queer and twisted lives. She Sees Weakness In Others. In other words, self-pity and useless use-less regret are corrosive elements. They destroy us. Yvonne sees this fast enough when a whining beggar comes to her door. She sees a ragged, unshaven man, she hears the story of the lost job, illness, of the wife who deserted and the money that was lost. His partner cheated him; he broke his arm; his overcoat was stolen. She smiles deprecatingly as ho tells her all this. He makes no Impression Im-pression upon Yvonne, except one of distaste. A big strong man going go-ing from door to door with his hat in his hand he ought to be ashamed of himselfl She never sees the similarity between be-tween him and herself; that she is always asking for pity and sympathy. sym-pathy. She never knows that her friends see a strong, healthy, pretty pret-ty woman surrounded by comforts and interests, and are bored to death with the old, old story. "Why, of course, Dolores got her share and that nice store on Lake street that has practically doubled in value. What Henry and Dolores wanted with more money why they didn't simply destroy that second will, I never will knowl I'll never forget poor Alan coming in and telling me that they'd found it. I never will get over the shock to my nerves, not as long as I live " "A whining beggar. ... |