Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-06-25
SUNDAY MORNING TALK.
A Home-Maker.

When she passed the other evening into
the larger life, at the ripe age of seventy.
the big world hardly noted her going. hut
the little world OF which she was the CEN
ter seemed suddenly smaller and lonelier.
and because her life-story is that of a
great multitude of God-fearing, self-sacri-
hc1ng women whose virtues seldom are nub-
lcly recorded but whose quiet efficiency
helps to keep the universe Stable does il
seem worth while to tell it.
home-maker she was more than any,
thing else from the hour she went as a.
1alr young bride to a New England city
even 10 the end of her days The outward
lapltation was transferred from time TO
Ilihe' out IN the numerous migrations east
and west the home life had under her
ihoidlng touch quality and beauty all its
own. Amid the privat.ons of the frontier
he light from her lamp of faith and love
shone as brightly as when she pitched her
tent amid the refnements of an oder civ
liza ton.
She had her full share Of human y.cjssl
tudes, but you know that whenever or
wherever you rang her Coorhell she would
greet you with smile and II warm hand
clasp. More than once size cuatfed the
deepest cup of sorrow which a mother
could put to her lips, hut from the heart
she could say of the baby boys who had
passed from her sight:
Mine in Gods gardens to and fro
And that is best.
AS the children who remained grew to
manhood and womanhood and as new lit
tie homes began to be made not far away
and as Dirdl1ngS came to those new nests her
nedrt expanded, too, and tie home ma X ing
instinct found fresh fields for exercise The
brides came back to her for counsel with
reference to their maids and their menus
and the bridegrooms found In her a ready
though never an intermeddling confidant.
AS Thanksgiving and Christmas required
children and grandchildren, aunts and
cousins gravitated naturally to the familiar
hearthstone where her serene and gracious
presence dominated and directed every
joyous reunion.
But the outgo of her sympathies was not
limited to the family circle She served her
own home all the better because she min
istered directly or indirectly to many an
other home in the community Her church
not only place where she worshiped
her God and found nourishment for her
best life, but 1t opened TO her a door of
opportunity and through organizations like
the Kings Daughters she developed the
latent powers of others, fostered their char
table impulses and set in motion definite
agencies which are still multiplying and
perpetuating her influence.
A modest home was hers. with COM
forts enough. but with few tokens of af-
fiuence. She knew how to make a little go
long way She respected learning and
letters and had a keen desire to keep pace
WIN the UtSl tIoukulS Oh the world. She
coveted for her children the opportunities
of college and of travel. She imposed no
letters upon their own broadening ideas
though they knew what Mothers Bible
meant to her and at what fountains she
daily fed her own strength. There was.
too an ample place In that home for the
element of fun. She had herself the merry
spirit that doeth good like medicine. Only
that and the grace of God would have en-
abled her to bear the hardships and disap-
pointments that were her portion.
She was not perfect woman. and as
have already intimated. she was not an
exceptional woman. Had she been the lat
ter you would have read about her In the
Social Settlement Tidings or in the Club
Woman's Weekly or In the Daily TelI-it-
All. She was just a plain, ordinary home
maker-nothing more, nothing less. She
knew how to make home to perfection
That was large enough sphere for her.
1t offered as big a fulcrum as she wanted