The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-05-20

out here in the sun and tb;nr ,,,.
over. And gradually seemed - nne,
'hings out In my mind, and at first
was reconciled, and then happy. and
again on III inind
lou see as was saying, folks are
.oming back to belief, though it is not
'ne oio certainty. Now | never re-
ere'teo marrying Jim, and hone and
am sure that shall meet him again
ana mat whatever there was of com
mon interest and affection between nc
VIII De renewed. But that dozen,
smut me out from Tom.
NOW suppose l had married Tom
would the old romance. which ex;s,.
s'iil' IN spite of my seventy-eiebt
years, continue? Or would II have
oeen irittered away with the cares Of
NE. the bearing and rearing Of INV
children. the friction Of things and tho
struggles? l think 1t would have
been. ~ nave
mat seems the strange thing about
nfe-the moment you begin to realize
happiness you lose it. 1t all consists
IN the looking backward or looking
forward. s
NOW, what an adventure life ought
10 be. and was, and is becomino
again, with the old faith coming hack
70 US. Because l am quite sure that
II Is this youth in our hearts. which
never dies, no matter how old we are
tnat is to be realized in the life to
come. l am quite sure that then at
last, we shall find the happiness which
we all try so hard to catch and some.
how miss.
wen, then, does anyone mean to tell
me that my heart won't be big enough
to hold both my husband and Tom in
an existence where there is no marry.
ing or giving in marriage? It seems
10 me that there one will have all the
romance of girlhood and all the iovs
OF Delng mother, and a grandmother
too.
have put this idea into words
rather crudely. not being a writer:
out, anyhow, that was my conclusion.
and | told Tom about it. You can't
imagine how pleased it made me to
know that he understood.
That is just how have been feel.
ing, my dear" he told me- You see.
when l heard you were married life
seemed impossible for me. But by
and by I began to find out that it has
got to be lived. and tried to live it.
My wife and / were very happy to.
gether. And l thought often that if
1t had been you our children would
have been different souls"
Yes" ! told him. Il should be
dreadfully unhappy without Polly and
Dora and Mark and Philip and the
two boys in Los Angeles"
but now we have each other as
we'll as our own" he answered
l closed my eyes. because wanted
to think. l was casting over in my
mind the different women knew, and
1t seemed to me that whether they had
married the right man or the wrong
man 1t seemed pretty we'll to even
itself out. And | thought of those
who had never married at ALL and
what load Of experience there must
be waiting for them in the next life.
For my part; Tom" l said, 81
would not have it any different. l am
so glad l never married you-and
used to think my heart was broken.
Same here" he answered, squeez-
ing my hand, and then saw couple
who were passing along the street
look up and smile at US.
"Ill be over tomorrow about the
same time," said Tom, getting up and
taking of his hat with the sweeping
gesture he used to use. watched him
walk away toward his cottage. How
pleasant 1t is to be alive. thought.
And how pleasant It is to be an old
woman, with all ones troubles lived
through already.