Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1944-03-10
By KATHLEEN NORRIS

" ADMITTING that I made a
II mistake in the raising of
L \ my daughter Diana, now
10, what can I do to retrieve lost
ground noW?" writes Ann Wood,
from an Illinois city. my hus-
band and I were peculiarly de-
voted, perhaps we neglected
her; she spent much of her time
with my mother, who was for
years an invalid" the letter
goes on. "Now both husband
and mother are dead, and I turn
to Diana to find her as undevel-
oped, in many ways, as a child
of IA. She is shy, awkward, self
conscious. Sheis pretty-or could
be, but an utter lack of style, and
a complete lack of interest in
her own appearance handicap
her terribly. If guests appear, she
rushes upstairs; if anyone meets us
in the street, Diana looks into space,
answers in husky monosyllables,
bursts into nervous laughter. She
will do nothing without me; begs off
answering the telephone, won't even
go on IAN errand to grocery or drug
store without her incessant, You
come, too, Mother. hate to talk to
people,
"Perhaps should confess to you,"
continues the letter, that the won
derful husband whose loss am now
mourning was not Diana's father. I
was married, foolishly, at 10, was
divorced three years later, when Di-
ana was two years old. She does
not remember her own father, but
has somewhat idealized him, evil
IDENTIFY, for recently found hidden
among her treasures snapshot of
him, holding her as baby. He
also married again, has several chill
dren, and as he lives in a distant
city his promise to see Diana fire.
quently has long been forgotten.
Wants Normal Life for Girl.
81 love my daughter, l want her
to 60 on into normal and happy
womanhood, but my heart sinks
when l consider the changes that
must take place if she is not to be
twisted freak for the rest of her life.
Diana, may add, is only too good.
She is nervously Conscientious about
anything l ask her to do, fuses anx-
iously over flower arrangements or
the transmission of messages, asks
permission even to walk to the cor
ner post-boX to mail a letter. She
reads much, likes puzzles, enters ra-
dio competitions, studies two Ian
guages. Her health is perfect; she
wears glasses for far-sightedness
She has no friends. Of late, in
bursts of hysteria, she has threat
consider her serious, for she is, as l
say, completely dependent upon me.
Will you make any suggestions that
might help us both?"
My suggestion, my dear Ann,
would be that you foster this idea of
running away to the extent of actu-
ally sending Diana away for awhile.
In these days she can easily get
work, hard work, and with hard
| work, and life IN clearinghouse,
which you must arrange for her, in
evitably come friendships, associa-
tons, distractions and expansions of
many sorts.
Put her on her own. Reassure
her as to her appearance and her
potential charm, tell her that you
are acting upon her as a check, as a
cramp, as indeed you are, and
launch her into the world. Send her
straight to some industrial center,
Detroit or San Francisco, where la
Dor is at a premium, and tell her
you expect her to keep journal and
utilize her experiences in fiction
form some day.
Missed Happy Home Life.
This girl has been badly handled
since birth. She was too small at
the time Of your divorce to realize
n i