Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1912-06-09
My Son S
Wife

Somewhere in this teeming world
there dwells a little girl who some
day will be my sons wife. Perchance,
indeed, she is but numbered among
the potentialities; in the land of the
unborn she may be shyly lingering.
For the prospective bridegroom. albeit
he fills his mothers heart, exists only
in miniature. His joyous run is peril
Gus and uncertain. The little linen
suits he wears call forth amazed
comment at their maturity. Nathless.
two years is no uniting interval
'twixt spouses. My sons wife may
we'll be a fact accomplished 1t is as
a babe, a newborn babe lying Silly
in cradle, that l picture her.
And what is she like, this little
girl, l wonder; this little girl who
means so much to him; so dear to me?
Does she lie there plump or puny,
brown or lily-fair, serene or wailful?
And the cot she lies in, is it lace-be-
decked, beribboned, hung with cur
tains of fair white dimity? Or stands
it bare and rudely fashioned of the
twopenny banana box?
But be she pauper or princess, l will
not cavil. In memory of that other
babe born in the stable, that other
babe worshiped of princes. ! welcome
the daughter-in-law of the palace, Of
the barn.
Yet these things are but trifles. /.
princess or pauper, l would have my
sons wife well-born. l would have
her forebears people of honor, of re-
! finement. l would have this, although
know that each new generation
! brings a new opportunity. Humanity
is compound and not mixture. The
elements fused together yield an issue
strange and unaccountable. While
| there Is life there is surely hope!
| And yet-and veto little unknown
daughter-in-law, may you have been
discreet in your choice of parents!
| May you, at least, have found a moth
er who loves you; indeed, it is the
common, foolish wont of mothers.
! May you have found father who is
a gentleman to you, whate'er he be
called otherwise!
But the little girl in her cradle has
already arranged her past. Blameless
or sinful, it is already there. What
use is it for me to speculate? What
use is it for me to think of her at all?
| trow she never thinks of me. She
never thinks of her possessions that
guard so carefully; the silver tea
service at the bank in it's soft tissue
wrappings; the family's sole diamond
| ring She does not think of such
things; she does not care. Yet could
: show them to her, she would gurgle
J joyously. In her baby eyes their
shine and sparkle would seem fair
| And perchance when she doth real
ize her treasures she will no longer
prize them. For my sons wife may
] be an artist, deeming crude valuables
| distinctive of the loathed Philistine
or learned lady despising gauds and
| baubles; or a little socialist, happily
certain that in universal earthenware
lies the cure of human i'll. Yes; me.
thinks my sons wife will be social
list. Daughter-in-law, l will respect
! your scruples; l will admire your no
BILE discomfort You shall melt the sill.
yer tea service; you shall sell it, and
print therefrom pamphlets, many
pamphlets, to reform the wicked pluto.
crat.
! But although my sons wife may
deem silver teapots worthless, al
though she may consider pearls more
| fifty cast before swine, yet there is
one possession | am guarding that
she will hold very precious, one be-
longing that awaits her for which she
will surely care.
Then, it is of this that I shall tell
! her, this one thing of Importance. |
pirate of silver services when l should
| describe my son. Tall l see him for
his years, his two years, as he plays
on the sward before me; tall and ex-
| ceedingly sturdy. His eyes are brown,
but his hair curls goldenly. (Little
girl, are you not glad with me that
his hair curls goldenly?) Strong he
| is, and merry. When he hurts him
self he cries but seldom. Rarely is
he vexed What else is there to tell
about him? All, see, he runs towards
me with his arms outstretched.
But perchance my unknown daugh-
ter-in-law will feel that filial piety
concerns her not Perchance she may
resent it. And yet it is a desirable
, quality. All the things that l have
| told her are desirable qualities; they
should tend to make a happy wife
! For two years this son hath brought
J his mother more happiness than she
| had ever known. Is it not, then, prob
able that he will one day bring joy
Gnto his wife? Little daughter-in-law
! pray that my son may give to you
as great peace, as great a comfort
as he hath given me. / pray, although
in truth the prayer is more for my
sons sake than for yours, since you
are yet stranger to me-Oh, may my
son come unto his wife as unspotted
as he came to me. May he be pure
in heart when he enters upon his sec
) ond birth, the birth of the new dual
life! May he always, and whate'er be-
fall him, never cease in seeing Cod
And so farewell, little girl. Fare
well, for in the surging crowd l can
not find you; cannot hear your voice;
do not know your face. To all my