The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1912-05-30
HOME CIRCLE COLUMN.
A BEAUTIFUL PICTURE.

There is no more suggestive or beau
tiful sight ~ our eyes, than that of an
elderly married couple, who, trusting
ly and lovingly together, have walked
the rugged ways of life from youth to
old age, and now hand in hand, and
heart to heart, are patiently and hope
fully waiting upon the hither shore of
time, for the sound Of the boatman's
oar, to be borne across the river. We
look back along the dim vista of years
to the halycon time of life's sunny
morning, we witness their plighted
VOWS at the altar, and see them 60
forth, in the pride of life and the glory
of their young welded lives to the
struggles of existence. Many a God
speed and kind word of cheer fall upon
their ears as they go out from beneath
the parental roof-tree that is to shelter
them no more forever. Before them
lies a new world of experiences, of joys
and sorrows, of grand successes, and
perhaps of sad failures. But strong of
purpose and resolute of will, and with
life's sky rose-tinted with the flush of
dawn, they move on, and enter upon,
this to them all UNEMPLOYED world of
experiences. We see them settled in
their new home. Perhaps it is log
cabin in the wilderness, with neighbors
70 nd fon hn 10
cottage in some distant town. The
husband is bravely bending every en-
ergy to the task of mastering the hard
conditions of life, and home and a
name in the world, and securing if pos
sible that independence that shall re-
lieve them from the possibility of
want. To the wife's rosy cheek has
come the pallor of the dreadful agon-
les of maternity, but now her eyes
are bright with new hope, as she
caresses the tiny form that nestles in
her bosom. And then comes added
care and heartaches as the years glide
away. We see them, with streaming
eyes and pleading lips bending over the
couch of their darling, as its little life
tlutters away in the short gasps of dis
solution, and its eyes grow dim under
the touch of deaths icy fingers. But
anon, time pours its gentle balm into
their wounded hearts, and the bitter
trial and loss which they thought they
never could endure, fades away in
tender memory. Again we behold
them, and as in the long ago they
went forth into the world, now their
own noble sons and daughters burden
ed with the unsolved problems and I'M
tried responsibilities of life, follow in
their footsteps; and soon their home is
left unto them desolate, save in the
companionship of their own souls.
Well for them if they have within
themselves treasures of culture and
character that shall supply their dear
est need: well for them if schooled in
that beautiful philosophy that enabled
st. Paul to say; 81 have fought the
good fight, have finished my course,
kept the faith" they too can feel il
their souls that they have done the
best they knew, and that now they
will trust the good Father for all that
is to come. The shadows stretch away
in lengthening lines toward the east,
and now they are calmly watching the
glories of the coming sunset of we'll
spent life. How grand they seem in
the fruition OF their years, with their
silvered hair glowing in the sunsets
golden CLEAN. Their faces are radiant
with divine hope that beyond the
bars of the shining west the beckon-
ing arms Of their loved ones are out
stretching towards them to welcome
them to their home of eternal rest and
love; and that in few more days, or
years at the most, they will pass on as
one weary with the burdens of the day
gathers, "the drapery of his couch
about him, and lies down to pleasant
dreams"