The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1925-01-08
THE RECoslpENsE


.Play, laugh, run, strive, and work
nth your children.
There was once a little girl who
lad the most wonderful mother and
father in the world. Also her brother
and sister, who were quite grown up,
,vere the finest and most beautiful
voune persons this particular little
GIRL could imagine. Unfortunately,
.hev had to be away at school nine
months out of every twelve, for this
family happened to live in a very
tiny town.
Fathers business was such that he
made frequent trips to the country,
and still nicer, frequent trips to the
CITY. Whenever there was anything
that this little girl could possibly be
interested in, Daddy was always will
ing to let her go along.
Mother could always find time to
devise some plan for dull day. What
fun it was to play school with mother
as a teacher! She could teach while
she was sewing, or baking, or making
beds, or writing paper for her club.
It was all the more fun to have a
teacher who made pretty dresses for
her pupil while she was actually
teaching her to read or write. 1t was
not every one who could learn to sub
tract while shifting delicious cook
les, and know that if one worked
very quickly she might have just one
cookie with her glass of milk.
And oh, the thrills before the first
trip on a Pullman with Daddy, to a
convention! Mother and daughter
played the lovely game of sleeping
car" for weeks before with chairs
and portiers. And when the time
came to go, and all of her clothes
were packed in daddy's big suitcase,
and she kissed for the last time, and
daddy was reminded once again to ask
the porter on the Pullman or the maid
in the hotel to tie her hair ribbon,
and the train finally pulled out for a
glorious adventure what happy
little girl she was! Then the breath
taking sight of the inside of the big
hotel. The distracting sounds of the
bustling city. The delicious never
before did anything ! taste-so good"
flavor of the foods daddy let her or
der all by herself! The important
feeling of sitting very still beside
daddy at meetings, even when she
hadn't any idea what they were all
about. And, best of all, the joy of
going home again and telling mother
all about everything. Jokes were so
much funnier shared with mother, ex-
periences so much more wonderful af-
ter they had been talked over with
her.
Once in while because mother and
daddy were so good to this all-alone
little girl and so thotful in her be-
half, she forgot to appreciate them.
Then they very wisely and very
gravely would just not have time for
her for awhile, and would let her ex-
haust her own possibilities for edu-
cation and entertainment. It usually
didn't take long for her to realize
that getting up for breakfast with
them was much more pleasant than
sleeping late and cooking her own!
when she insisted on having a puppy
In addition to her cat and two pet
chickens, daddy bought her one; but
taking care of so many pets soon got
TO be very irksome pleasure. 1t
developed that there had been a
reason for his original objection 10
that additional care.
NO matter what happened, or didn't
happen, our little girl was always
nnding that no one else understood.
no one sympathized, no one rejoiced
as mother and daddy did. Of course,
DADDY seldom said so, but she always
knew. Mother was so busy doing
snings, that discussions were rare,
out her little girl always shared in
tnat doing. When bi gbrother and sis
eer came home from college they at
ways opened up delightful new
world OF work and parties and inter-
ests which little sister could share,
oy proxy, if not actually. Everything
seemed to combine to make this little
girl happy.
but 1t was not always to be so.
something happened to daddy's bus
mess which took away all the conf
oence from his eyes, and all the peace
from mothers and much of the hap
piness from sisters and put a new,
stern expression in big brothers that
seemed to say that he had been grad
aated from college just in time to be
iatners strong right arm.