Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1931-03-13
THE
MODEL
SON
g 50
BY Fannie Hurst
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lNl She also knew that the
, term had come to carry with
; 1t q sort Of ridiculous portent.
Some wag had said that model
child" was one built in a small imi'
tation of the real thing.
I Mrs. Yawitz knew better She knew
that "model son." as applied to hers,
meant the kindest, most considerable.
most obedient and high-principled boy
in the world.
! Gentle old lady that she was, she
would have clawed out the eyes of
one who said otherwise.
AS a matter of fact, there was no
one who could have said otherwise.
Ben Yawitz, rotund little fellow with
kind, shining, circular face. short.
dimpled hands and the gentlest eyes
imaginable, was impeccably the good
son and the decent, respected and re-
speeding citizen. His picture-framing
establishment, which he had inherited
from his father, was known over the
area of a large neighborhood for its
reliability and good standing. The
Yawitz family, which had consisted
of three while the father lived, Occu-
pied the apartment over the store,
and for SO years had paid rent pune
tiliously for their premises.
Ben had developed the business
nicely. He not only took care Of
large neighborhood clientele, but han
died the map-and-picture framing for
two high schools and large natural
history museum in the district.
His mother always said Of him that
he should have been an artist. Pos
sibly. He took genuine pleasure in
the mounting and framing Of the vari-
GUS bits of art that came to him, and
was tireless at discussing the mount
ing of a bridal or communion photo
graph. He even dabbled bit In wa.
'ter-color himself, and once sold to a
young bridal couple who set up house
keeping In the neighborhood, framed
painting Of the little street scene be-
fore his shop.
1t had brought five dollars. Mrs.
Yawitz kept the identical bill paid
for 1t pinned to a little envelope
Of lavender sachet in her lower dress.
er drawer.
Another little characteristic that
seemed to Indicate that Ben came by
his artistic bent honestly, as the say
ing goes, was the genuine love of mu-
sic. not only of the son, but of the
mother as well.
oi0hf IN
the short, rOtund Ben and his short,
r0tund mother neatly, decently
dressed, the two of them, setting forth
of an evening Zone of the three out
of the week, 1t had to be, when the
store was not open) for the opera
house or concert hall.
A cOntented pair. A blessed mother,
and II mother who was never uncOn-
sciOus of that blessing.
OF course, time and time again, up
to the time Ben approached his for
ties, the subject of the possibility Of his
marriage had not only been discussed
among friends and neighbors, but be-
tween the two themselves.
II never want to stand in the way,
son, of your marriage. No mother is
entitled to a monopoly Of the life Of
child"
"Im not the marrying sort, mother"
"You will be some day, son."
Then there will be time to talk Of
It,"
That time came and yet, strangely
and little terribly, there was never
talk of 1t between mother and son.
1t had all come about like this: A
neighbOrhood girl who had recently
moved into the district, but who al
ready had had time to acquire for
herself the reputation of being gay"
came into the shop one day for the
purpose Of having a picture of herself
framed
Strangely enough, 1t was Ben's little
clerk and not himself who took the
order, but 1t was Ben himself who did
the framing. 1t was an enlarged snap
shot of Aimee McRae, taken at a
beach. Tawny and blowing were her
short, bobbed curls In that photograph,
dlmpled and adorable her short legs
large, Happy sun hat filled with sand.
Ben could scarcely believe that II was
not what he called fancy picture"
until, Oh the day OF its promised com.
pletion, the subject OF II herself ap.
peared, just as adorably saucy, just as
plquant as the photograph.
II began to happen almost at once
Aimee, who had never even known,
much less been loved by, anyone Of
Ben's stability, was quick to react to
the sense OF protection. Ben might
prove dull evenings diversion, but
lie was u sure. good meal II warm
iirst-class seat In motion picture the.
uter. and sometimes even taxi.
Aimee, naughty. shrewd, elhsh and
s0ubrette, was quick to sense all that
She even put up with the occasional
concert. II gave her an absolutely un.
precehented sense Of anchorage to 20
about with this quiet. serlouseyed
oldisl-y0une fellow. She hoOted about
It to her friends pad got, deep inside
Of her, something cold was tiawlng.
Gradually II Was borne In upon the
troubled Zen that his mothers sup.
posed retlcencr WIS not retlcence OF
NIL She an not kuo~. apparently by
one Of i!usc mir Is when the per.