The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1940-05-23

ship. She has been daughter, wife,
mother, housekeeper for a long
quarter of a century. And these
have been happy years, proud years,
years full Of the joys of trips and
frocks, parties and hattery and self
confidence.
But they have vanished now. And
now comes HER time; the time
when she can be most truly and
wholly herself. Her small house is
a veritable kingdom with its gar
den, its dog or its cats, it's visits
from adored grandchildren, its quiz
eter visits from old friends. In plan
ming trips, in club work and chari-
ties, in easy hours and easy dress
ing and games Of dominoes or crib
bage or Backgammon with few
tried and true neighbors and friends,
are real pleasure.
If the companion Of her youth is
still beside her, all this felicity is
doubled. But even if he is not, rich
and ripe and useful living is still
hers.
Tame and Uninteresting.
Now, unfortunately, this paradise
of the middle years sounds extreme
ly dull, to youth. It sounds tame
and uninteresting to the last degree.
Youth never will change ideals with
age; it hates the thought. Age is
no more convinced that it never will
be youth than is youth sure it never
can grow old.
And so many a woman who could
be planning now for her later years
draws away in repugnance from the
thought of them. Whatever she is
when she's old-and to her IS is
old-she knows she'll hate it. So
why think about it?
Why train her character to de-
sire what is true and lasting; why
search into her own soul and de-
velop its miraculous resources? Why
deny herself and the children su-
perf1uous Injuries and extrava-
gances now, to gain the superlative
comfort of financial security for her
old age? Why form taste for fine
books, for language study, for gar
dening, for any one Of a hundred
interests and avocations, when to-
day there are movies and beauty
parlors and firtations and night
clubs to fill her time?
What is the answer?
Ask yourself why.
Answer Is Appareut.
The answer is that if you knew
that In Is or so years you had to
move to a strange country, coun-
try in which the eyes you use now
could see nothing, in which your
present ears could hear nothing, Of
whose language and customs you
know nothing, you would certainly
prepare to make that change. You
would study the conditions, the linn
itations and opportunities of the peo-
pie of that country; master its Ian
guage; cultivate few friends who
must make that journey with you.
Middle age, old age, can be
long peaceful holiday. A useful hol-
iday-not by any means an idle hol-
iday. But happy time in which a
woman who has done her honest
share of living in the younger years
can find endless interest, a thousand
absorbing occupations, complete
peace of spirit.
That's something worth achievingl
In this column before this I have
expressed my own firm opinion that
the real test Of any Life, as failure
or a success, comes after fifty.
Fiftyi It used to sound so old. It is
50 young, and it comes so fast you
hardly realize it.
And at fifty, curls and smooth COM
plexion are gone, firtations and par
ties are over, money doesn't mean
what it once did, and health usually
has to be seriously considered. If
you have gathered nothing else in
the first two score and ten years,
the last years are indeed q dark
and stupid time.