Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-10-13
WINIFRED BLACKS
" SPECIAL ARTICLE
THE STORY IN YOUR HEART
Copyright Isa2. b. Nswspaper Fsssurs ssrvt

1.-THE worst thing about it," said the
woman with the cheerful smile and the
sad eyes, was that ] was afraid I'd
stopped caring for him, and 1 knew
if l did the whole thing was gone
youth, hope, trust, happiness-every-
thing.
80 I used to pray-oh, yes / did,
regular old-fashioned prayer-and l
always prayed to be helped to keep on
loving him; that's all that kept me
alive-and him, too.
1T was hard sometimes, awfully
hard. He was so sweet and good hu-
mored, and kindly, and clever, when
he was himself. But when he wasn't
himself he was mean and stingy, and
jealous and ault-finding, and quarrel
some-and oh, so unutterably silly!'
"The Real Jack"
THAT was the worst of 1.-THE sill
illness.
Its awfuIly hard to love a man
when he makes you ashamed of him,
and / was ashamed of Jack more than
half the time.
Besides, it's awfully dangerous to
be ashamed of a man, or have to apol-
ogize for him, or make excuses for
him. 1t hurts his vanity and makes
his conceit suffer, and when you hurt
a mans self-esteem you kill the only
thing that keeps him alive.
do you know what / used to do
when Jack was particularly silly, and
made me particularly ashamed? |
used to get out his old letters and read
them wei and over and hunt up his
book-you know that first one he
wrote, that was really so wonderful
and I'd say to myself, now that's Jack
the real Jack! He's the one / love,
he's the n l respect, he's the one L
admire. This other Jack is his twin.
He looks like him, talks like him-but
it isn't the Jack / married at all.
so l managed and pretended, and
comforted myself and praised Jack and
quoted his old letters and passages
from his book, and pulled him back,
back, back up out of the slime and the
mud and for five years before he died
he was the real Jack again and 1
didn't have to work day and night to
keep on loving him. ,
See. here's the boy-Jack's boy and
mine-he's at college now; captain Of
the football team, smart as a whip,
good as gold and worships the memory
of his father.
Here's the girl-this one in the
oval frame. She's visiting her aunt
now. but she's coming home in time to
60 to the junior prom with her brother:
He says she'll be the prettiest girl
there, too.
Sweet? She's as sweet as a
whole bunch of sweet peas, and as
bright as she can be! Doesn't she look
exactly like Jack?
In Our Own Hearts
I'm so glad I had the courage and
the faith to keep on loving him. Don't
O think it was worth it,"
And | looked at the two photographs
and at the proud mother, and L no
ticed her sad eyes and her cheerful
smile, and l said:
Yes, | guess it was
And / really do suppose 1t was
/ wonder if you would have had the
patience and the foresight and the
courage. to do. what this woman did!
| wonder if l would, either?
This man really did come back
but what If he. hadn't?' What If he
had Just dragged the woman and the
children down with him into the
slime and the mire?
Would the patience and the courage
and the faith have paid then?
Well, it's all in our W hearts, aft
er all-the story and the way 1t ends
l wonder how many of us realize
that? -...