The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-06-15
ANDREW AND
 IMOGENE
Ny ROE FULKERsoN
By ROE FULKERSON

What are you thinking about?' asked Imogeue
 ''Who-me?" asked Andrew, look ing up brightly. T was just think ing of patenting a new doorless burglar proof garage. It Is so much trouble to twist and turn to get into and out of garage, and then the are always stealing automobiles. I was just thinking how nice it would be to have solid steel garage with out any door in 1t. just fastened with a block and tackle like canary bird cage. Then all one would have to do would be to run the car on the concrete floor and lower the garage over it and there you are. I've got It all figured out except what I would fasten the block and tackle to-"
 "oh. Andrew" exclaimed his wife, T wish you were not so silly"
 Really, do your" he asked in all seriousness. T wonder if you do? You know. honey. nature never du- plicates. You can take each blade of grass. each tiny petal of q flower or the very tiniest pebble among the thousands on the shore. and. there are never two exactly alike. i "We can bend ourselves little, , of course, as a flower leans toward the window, as horse learns to work In harness, as hen can be taught not to set, but a flower has to grow up in it's own way before it can turn toward the light; horse has to, first of all, be horse before it can do the work man uses it for, and hen must first be a hen before she can get over her habit of setting. "So must we all be what we are first of all before we can be the things those We love want us to be. try awfully hard, honey, to be and do the things you want and try aw- fully hard to see things through your eyes, but l must first of all be my self and if l am not that I am not anything.
 Tt seems tough that a maple tree cannot turn itself into rose bush just to please the gardener who waters 1t, prunes it. but after all is said 1t is still a maple and can only give its shade and cannot bloom no matter if it should try through love of the gardener.
 If there are things I do which seem silly to you, if there are things in my life and conduct which are not Just the way you would like to have them, try to remember that it Is just because it is me and am me and cannot help it.
 There is a something in this world which we call Individuality which keeps maple from having roses on 1t and yet that maple out there in the yard is not a bad plant after all
 So Is there something in each of us which we call Individuality which may not exactly suit other peobIe; in fact. never does. yet that individ- uality Is what keeps all the people in this world from being as much alike and as uninteresting as a bunch of carbon copies of the same letter.
 I've just simply got to be me, and there isn't any way of getting out of 1t that I know of"
 Well, whats the use of getting so serious about it?" Imogene asked, smiling at him.
 drew, puzzled. 'I was just trying to apologize for being silly about the garage, and then when 1 am serious and try to talk solemnly to you about it you don't like my seriousness any better than my silliness."
 That's because am I and I am a woman" replied Imogene. Don't you know, if I could make you all over just the way I would like you to be. wouldn't love you a bit like that and would want to change you again? Why, never had dress in my life that did not want to change after I had finished 1t. Women are never satisfied: you need not take my disapproval so hard" Then they both laughed.
 Copyright, 1922, by Twenty-first
 Century Press, Inc.)