Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1904-07-09
Try to Accept Old Age Gracefully;
Do Not Waste Time in Search
For the Everlasting Fountain of Youtt


One of the precious lost arts of our
Tune Is the art of growing old gracefuliy
ms Is particularly true of women with
whom the cult OF youth has become more
| than fad 1t is an obSesSiOn t,tat fills
their waking thoughts and nightly
dreams.
Every woman you know past so has
but one purpose in life, and that is to
keep young. Every paper YOU pick un
haS columns and pages devoted to telling
lis feminine readers how to massage
/ away wrinkles, and oblterate triple
chins, and avoid gray hair.
Every woman you meet spends hours
IN the privacy of her apartment hopping
around on one foot, or tying herself np
III tgures of eight. i'll 4 vain attempt 10
preserve the waist measure of Is, and
the liSsome grace of her vanished Girl.
hood.
Beyond so the entire feminine popula-
ton consists of vast army of Ponce de
Icons engaged in a frantic, nerve-wear-
ing, heart-breaking search for the foun-
/ tam of perpetual youth.
They do not find it, of course They
find the peroxide bottle. and the complex
ion specialist, and the stay-maker, that
for time seem substitute for the thing
they seek, and they cry out that they
have found it, and that there are no mere
old women.
In way this IS true. There are no
more women who re frankly and Sc
rcnely old. who We accepted age gra-
ciously, and witho regret. and who are
enjoying the calm twilight of existence
that is. perhaps. the most beautiful part
of life, as II is the most beautiful part OF
the day.
There are not even any old women's
fashions in our stores, or any old ladies'
corners in our household. Grandmamma
wears picture hats covered with as many
flowers and feathers. and furbelows MS
her debutante granddaughter.
Nowhere does the make-belieye Young
woman flourish so plentifuly rs right
here IN America. Ride Oh any car, sit IN
any theater. dine at any restaurant aud
You may see her on every side of ro,
with her wrinkles filled in with powder,
her faded old cheeks painted vermillion.
her scanty old eyebrows penciled into the
proper line, her dim old eyes looking all
the DINNER under the elaborate gold or
bronze of her false hair, her avoirdupois
laced into the tightness OF youthful
gown. or the bones of her Scraggy neck
showing under strings of jewels.
Nor is her attempt to be youthful con
fined 10 her appearance. Watch her wrig-
gle and twist i'll her efforts to he viva
cious. Sec how She SmirkS and smiles,
and ogles and giggles, trying to he CO.
quettiSh!
Listen to her conversation. more friyo-
lous than the silliest school girls. and
pity the woman who cannot coniure back
her youth. and to whom life has not
brought the sweetness, dignity aud the
wisdom of age.
Women regard growing old as the
greatest curse that can bcfall them, but
this Is only because they make il so.
All of Us have known brilliant and
beautiful young women, but when we
think Of the most attractive woman We
have ever known. the tendcrcst and tie
most lovahlc, and the one whose charm
abided with us longest, ii is Of some old
woman with snowy hair. and peaceful
eyes, wise. and gracious in speech and
manner, and into whose presence it was
q rest and a bcnediction to come
1T is a great art for woman to learn
to keep young, but it is the greatest art
of all TO learn to grow old gracefully. -
Philadelphia Evening Bulletin.