The Washington times., 1936-05-19


almost daily the chef prepared
When 1 was q child / cared
no more for clothes than / do
now. / wore nothing but white
dresses up until the time / was
six years old, then / gradually
started wearing little jersey
dresses of different cOlOrS. When
was ten years old the first i'm
pOrtant change came into my
life when my mother and father
separated. Mother took me to
California for the winter and
we remained there for three
years, visiting Colorado and
Kansas City during the summer
months. We grew so homeSick
after our three years in Cali
fornia that we decided to go
back to Kansas City, and not
far from my grandparents home
we found small apartment.
enrolled in the French Catholic
Convent, but did not stay there
very long because my mother
was so lonely and unhappy with
me away from her. So left and
went to Miss BigelOw'S School
where I could 60 home every
afternoon.
When I was Is years old SUI
fered one Of the greatest humilia-
lions Of my young life-the
measles! did not want the other
girls at school to discover that
humiliation, so pledged the fam
lily to secrecy. When my measles
vanished, the family doctor ad-
vised my mother to send me to a
camp for the summer, where I
could have systematic exercise and
the companionship of girls Of my
own age.
The camp, well known for its
strict discipline, was in northern
Michigan. Mother took me to the
camp and a few days after she
left another girl and myself de-
veloped symptoms of scarlet fever.
We were isolated in a small tent
some distance from the camp
where we lay, two sick and lonely
kids crying for our mothers, for
several days. Informed by tele-
graph Of my sickness, mother
hurried back to the camp and
nursed both Of us for three weeks.
In the following fall it was
again decided to send me to
school, so I became a pupil at
Ferry Hall in Lake Forest, near
Chicago. Mother took an apart
ment at the Highland Park Inn,
so she could always spend the
week-ends with me. I enjoyed
Ferry Hall. On week-ends, when
we were not permitted to leave
the school, We cooked little meals
on small electric grills that were
part Of our boarding house equip
ment. We were all passing
through the romantic novel pc
riod and nightly we draped the
tranSome and plugged the key
holes to sit up and read long
past the light-out bell,
Somehow I never went through
the usual stage Of "crushes" most
young girls experience-until I
met Chuck at one of the school
dances. The following Saturday
he took me to lunch and it was
love at first sight. All that sum-
mer our romance continued, and
then we started to talk about
marriage. My family finally
surrendered to our pleadingS, but
insisted that we must wait until
I reached Is.
1t seemed so silly to wait
that long, and one night, while
we were driving along Lake
Shore we walked into marriage
as gayly and carelessly as we
had played and laughed
through the summer. When 1
told my mother, she was heart
sick, but wished us all he hap
pineSs in the world. Chuck and
went to New York on our
honeymoon, then took a boat
through the Panama Canal to
Los Angeles.
In California again, I devoted
my time to establishing my home
with no thought of pictures in
my life. Chuck loved people, lots
OF them. He had a comfortable
income and there was no need
for him to work and our married
life became one continual party.
1t was fine for a time, but I be-
came restless and eager to find
something else to do besides play.
Chuck and I drifted gradually
away from each other and 1 be-
came lonely for the companion
ship of my mother. Finally,
. mother came to California and
lived within a few blocks of our
little home. We didn't talk about
my unhappineSS-merely waited
and hoped that something would
happen to solve the problem.
A short time later 1 was en-
Pertaining few girls at a lunch
con when one of them, who
worked occasionally in pictures,
asked me to drive her to the
Fox Studios. Once through the
gates, I waited for her while she