Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1943-04-27
|Hasty Marriage.
Among Horrors
Of the War
By Dorothy Dir

VI the war
By Dorothy Dir
The worlds greatest optimist is
the boy who marries girl of whom
his parents have never heard and
who takes her home and dumps her
down in the bosom of his family
and says: Nov love each other"
1t is pure luck when this happens,
even when the bride and the in
laws belong to the same kind Of
people and have the same social
and cultural background, and when
father and mother approve Of their
sons marrying and stand ready to
give him their blessing.
But it takes a major miracle to
bring about this happy result when
the new wife comes from the wrong
side of the tracks; when she has
had little education and no social
experience and has not one thing
in common with the family into
which she has been so Unexpectedly
precipitated and who know that
their son is in no position to marry,
no matter whether he espoused the
Queen of the Debutantes or Gin
derella.
Tragedy Is All
Too Common.
Yet this tragedy is happening
just now in thousands upon thou
sands of homes. Tom, or Dick, or
Archibald-call him Archie for
SHORTS in the army. He is of at
some camp. He is homesick and
lonesome and bored. He is cut of
from all the girls he grew up with
and with whom he has played about.
He is at the age when he must love
somebody, and along comes a pretty
little girl who isn't too hard to get
acquainted with. Maybe they meet
at = canteen, or they dance together
at serviceman's ball.
She looks at him with adoring
eyes. They have g. few dates. And
because he is so hungry for senti-
ment and romance he thinks this
passing physical attraction is love.
Weddings are in the air. He catches
the contagion. And when she cries
because he is going to be sent over
seas and leave her he marries her.
And when the marching order
comes he puts her on the train and
sends her to his people with a letter
asking them to be good to her and
saying he knows MON will love her
and that Gertie or Sally, or what
ever her name is, will just adore
MON. Fat chance, when the parents
see in the girl the wreck of all their
hopes and ambitions for their son,
and the bride comes in with a chip
on her shoulder, determined not to
let any in-laws put anything over
on her.
Hasty Marriages
A Horror of War.
No one will deny that these I'M
suitable and hasty marriages are
among the horrors of war, but here
they are, just as much as the burn
ing sands Of Africa and the filthy,
crawling fox holes of Guadalcanal
and the fighting and the mangled
flesh and the disease and death that
are part of these terrible times in
which we are living. And it is Just
as much up to us to have the cour-
age to fight through them and turn
what, at first, seems like defeat into
victory as 1t Is to our soldiers to
win the war. They are not throw
ing down their arms and quitting
because they are in a hot spot.
Neither should we.
So I would urge not only Arches
mother, but his sisters and his
cousins and his aunts, to give Gertie
a warm welcome when she arrives
IN her tawdry finery and with her
cheap little bag. Don't be repulsed
by her standofilsh manner. She is
sQred to death of you and that is
the defense mechanism she is hiding
behind. Don't patronize her. Don't
correct her grammar or pronouncia-
ton or the way she paints up her
race. She is just waiting for you to
do that so as to tell you where you
get OH and where you can 70.
Be patient with her and some dav
you will find her sitting under the
shade OF the tree whose seed you
planted while she wasn't looking.
You've made lot of sacrifices for
Archie. Make one more. Make a
friend of his wife.
Great Deal
At Stake.
And I would urge Gertie to realize
that a lot more is at stake with her
than merely enduring her husbands
family. Her whole married life de-
pends on what she learns from
them. When Archie comes back he
isn't going to be the uncritical bow
who asked nothing of a girl except
to look pretty and know how to
dance. He is going to be grown
man who has seen much of the
world and met many people in many
lands and he is going to want a wife
who will be q fit companion to
MIN and of whom he can be proud
He is going to revert to type and
go back to his own family for stand
ards. He Is going to want a wife
who can talk intelligently, who has
poise and grace, who knows what
to say and how to say it, and who
knows how to cook and run a house
efnctently. You can learn all of
these things from your mother-in-
law and your sisters-in-law and
their friends. Don't be too proud
to do It,. ~
The war is bound to bring great
changes to all Of us. Fit Yourself
70 meet them, whatever they are
Make yourself SO proficient In some
line OF work that you can not onlv
support yourself but Archie, if he
comes home shot to pieces. Don't.
.nlnk OF this time Of waiting as an
t..s regard IT Is your oppor-
tunity and make the most of ii.
Ho1nernakers Must
Dress fc. III