Evening star., 1942-09-15
World Admires
Courageous
Mothers
Takes an Unselfsh
WOnan to Smile
In These Days
By Dorothy Dix

By Dorothy Dix
Dear Miss Dix: What Is your
opinion of a mother who goes about
crying on the shoulder Of every
person who will let her because her
married son has been drafted? She
refuses to go to party, even to
a movie or listen to the radio or
read the newspapers because there
is so much In them about the war.
She declares that until her son Is
returned home to his family she
will not 60 anywhere or indulge in
any pleasure. One would think that
she is the only woman In the world
who has been called upon to make
this sacrifice.
I have two sons who are not OF
draft age, but who have volun-
tarily enlisted. and a younger one
who is anxiously awaiting the day
when he will be II, SO that he also
can enlist. But I am not bemoan-
ing my fate: on the contrary. /
am very proud OF my boys. I ad-
nit I have many lonely hours and
miss those two sons dreadfully. but
I know there are millions of other
mothers who are far worse off than
1 am, 50 I keep busy with war work
along with my household duties. ]
try to keep my troubles to myself
I go to places of amusement and
try to divert myself as much as
possible and not TO pass on to others
any depression I may feel. Don't
you think I am taking wiser
course than my friend?
A WAR MOTHER.
Answer-Indeed you are Nobody
minimizes the suffering that every
woman goes through when her son
marches forth to battle She knows
the hardships he must suffer, the
dangers he must run and the
chances there are that he may
never come back, or if he does he
may be manned or crippled for life
These are the inevitable fortunes of
war and as she thinks of them her
soul is torn with fear and anxiety
But she makes the matter worse
for herself when she broods over
them and eXaggerates her fears
until they become certainties. After
all, the proportion of soldiers who
are injured or slain in war is small
compared to the total number in
the armed forces. In the last war
I knew a woman who wrecked her
health by imagining horrors that
would befall her son who was in
the Army.
She could neither eat nor sleep
because of picturing him shivering
and cold in trench in France or
lying dead on battle field. There
was no atrocity of the enemy that
she did not visualize as being per-
petrated upon her darling. Yet
when the war ended and he was
returned to her. he had not been
out of this country; he had never
heard a gun fired: had never SC
much as caught cold. or hurt his
finger in the service of his country
1t has been said that a coward
dies a thousand deaths. the brave
man dies but once. That is as
true of the woman who stays at
home and nurses her fears as it is
of the man who is a craven in the
Army. The woman who has the
courage to meet her responsibility
and do her duty, does not. in reality
suffer half so much as the wilmer
and complainer who magnifies hel
sacrifices and calls upon everybody
to sympathize with her. The cour-
ageous woman has the consolation
of her own self-respect and the ad-
miration and respect of all who
know her. whereas the weakling
mother who wanted some other
woman's son to 60 out to defend
her and her child is an object OF
universal contempt.
Unless boy is as weak ano
f1abby -souled as his mother, she
makes life very hard for him. Every
boy in the Army has had to make
sacrifices. He has had to give ur
his Job or his profession just wher
he was getting started in it, ano
he knows he will have to start
afresh when the war is over. Otter
he has had to leave a young wife
and little children and he has
enough to bear and enough te
worry about without his mother
constantly breaking down his cour.
age by meaning and groaning ovel
him and telling how she vets hel
pillow with her tears and how SHE
knows she will never see him again
1t takes brave and unselfisf
woman to smile in these days, tt
be cheerful and to keep up th'
morale of all with whom she come
in contact by saying something ga,
and pleasant instead of telling then
a tale of woe. 1t takes courage t,
write an amusing letter to one
son when ones heart is breaking
but that's the kind of mothers w
need.
Every one is filled with pity TO
the mothers whose sons are at tn
front. Their bread is sorrow an,
their drink is tears in these sa,
times, but they make bad mat
ter worse when they fill the worl,
with their lamentations.