Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1947-06-20
By KATHLEEN NORRIS
IF YOU are the old lady of the
family, stop now and then
i and take stock of Yourself
Bell Syndicate.-WNu Features

IF YOU are the old lady of the
family, stop now and then
L and take stock of yourself.
Ask yourself what you are do
ing that annoys the family, or
any member of it, and helps
make trouble.
The position of an old lady who is
dependent upon her family, and liv-
ing with son or daughter, is an ex-
tremely hard one. 1t is bound to
be full of small vexations, humilia-
tons, limitations of which the
younger crowd doesn't dream. They
try-to a greater or lesser degree,
depending upon the type of people
they are-to be considerate and gen.
erous, but most of the time it just
isn't possible; life sweeps on at to-
days rapid pace, and Mama just has
to take it, and make the best of it.
So Mama has real reason to feel
aggrieved, and she nurses her trou-
bles and exaggerates them until
they break out on the surface. They
break out in sharp and bitter little
jabs at the younger people, in COM
plants, in comparisons, in long
signs and periods of depression, and
all these lower the home average
of content and serenity, and give
everyone chance to mutter impa-
tiently, "Oh, it's just Mama again!"
Now, since George and Marjory,
wonderful as they are, are not going
to change, and the children can't be
expected to grasp the situation at
all, it is decidedly up to Mama to
be the one to make the concessions.
1t isn't fair, of course, for Mama
once was strong and loving and
protective influence in her chill
dren's lives, ready to sacrifice ev-
erything she had for their benefit.
Once she was mistress of a hand
somer house than Marjory's is; once
she was the one to decide and give
orders, and spend money It isn't
easy for her to agree with Mar
jory's ideas, even when Marjory is
her own flesh-and-blood daughter.
When Marjory is her daughter-in-
law instead, of course, it is ten times
harder.
Forget Comparisons, Justice.
But just the same, if Mama wants
to win for herself a happy old
age, now is the time for her to aban-
don all thoughts of comparison, all
resentful memories of the past, all
sense of justice, indeed. Now is the
time for her to study every men,
Der of the family, and every event
of the domestic day, and think how
she can make herself more quietly
useful, sympathetic, loving. This is
a hard ruling, but Marjory will come
to it, too, someday, and even baby
Marjory, delicious now at three
years old, may someday find herself
superfiuous, dependent and alone in
the midst of her own people.
So, Mother, if that is your posi-
ton, use your imagination and try
to see just how the family regards
you. Check up on yourself. There
are old ladies who are unmitigat-
ed pests, and who keep a house
shri1 with argument and complaint.
And there are old ladies who are
angels, filling in all the gaps in the
younger household; there to mend
small garments, to put away laun-
dry items, to answer telephones, to
slip into the kitchen and help with
dishes after the party, to sit
with the babies at night, to supple
ment the work of the nurse in
crisis, to quietly fill the home atmos-
phere with service and love.