Milford chronicle., 1959-10-02
eff I Could Live My
Life Over Again /. .
BY Vivian Brown
LP Newsfeatures Writer

Ar NeWsAtdbuFts WFf6tE
The next time you hear that old
cliche, IF / only knew then what
/ know now, don't be scornful. |
Smart types would do well to make
notes of these suggestions, and put
then to work. Older folk are not
talking idly in that studied prose.
They've found out by experience
and have a good collection of hon.
est regrets. So stop and listen to
the sound effects. Here are some
of the quotes:
'I wish I had had a filling put
in that first tooth cavity. and made
regular appointments with the dem
tist. The upshot of it is tina.
I've had all my uppers removed
and now am miserable with my
false teeth.
"If l had listened to my parents,
I'd have married the right boy. AS
1t is, / chose the one they disliked
and my marriage broke up"
MY eyes went bad from read
ing In poor light, SO now l must
wear glasses"
81 wish I'd paid more attention
TO my school work, instead of try
ing to pass all the time, and get
out of school as soon as l could
persuade my parents to let me-"
II should have dated lots of boys
instead of always saving dates for
the heroic athletes and good-look-
ing boys who never got around to
asking me. Now I'm an old maid"
"I wish that my shoes had been
picked with greater care and that
/ hadn't insisted on wearing big,
sloppy brogans just for comfort.
I'm suffering for 1t now with corns
and callouses land big feet)".
eff I'd only had enough sense
to eat my mothers good cooking
instead of living on pastries and
other appealing food. always
passed up vegetables and hardly
ever ate meat, and I've had all
sorts of figure and beauty prob
lens from my ill-chosen food fav-
orites."
II wish that / had dropped the
chip on my shoulder that / carried
to work every day. / wasted lot
of valuable years and now I've
learned that you should be friend
ly to everyone from the janitor to
the president of the firm If you
want to get ahead in your job"
Now that I'm a parent wish
I'D made things easier for my
parents. | never realized how much
1t meant to be respectful to par
ent until / became one. Now that
/ have that responsibility, l wish
| could turn the clock back and be
kinder to my parents"
81 wish I'd learned toesee things
through before jumping to conclu-
sions. I'm sorry that / always an
nounced that / would never get
married, would never have chill
dren, and only wanted to be car
eer girl. 1t pays to think things
out"
"It's a good idea to learn to save
money when you are young. A man
should have little money by the
time he gets married. and II he
learns to save he will not be for
ever in debt to high-interest out
fits.
LuOuSuJ the mOcL lupOf tdhb
things in life were the things that
showed and impressed people-the
best car you could buy, the biggest
house you could afford, the most
expensive clothes, even II you had
to borrow to have these things.
Now I'm a mother and / know
there are no greater riches In the
world than children"
II let the gambling habit get
hold of me. and it took everything
/ made for years. When | finally
turned over a new leaf, found all
the frightening fears of those years
disappearing"
81 wish I'd been more selective
in choosing my first job, and then
made the others count Once /
started raising a family and had
responsibilities, was afraid to
gamble on job opportunities"
1T would have been great JOY
to have more children, but didn't
realize it until it was too late"
The length of Afghanistan is