St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1962-08-17
morning until night.


and she will not give me any of it
except a few dollars here and
there. What she doesn't tell is that
she and my father took me out Of
school during prohibition days
when they opened up their beer
parlor and I was a bartender at
16! o, yes, the money rolled in.
I later learned was some sort of
a drawing card. (He is still hand
some). How hated 1t all, but my
father was very, nice and kind to
me always, and I thought it must
be alright If he wanted me there.
I learned how to spot the trouble
makers at once. Almost as soon
as they came in. Then you had to
watch them every minute for signs
Of quarrelling. We never let things
get far enough for a fight. We ran
a respectable beer parlor! Families
used to come in for food and
drinks. But 1 still hated it all.
In answer to his neighbours
question about the good job he
had during his early twenties he
said, yes, I managed to get a
little education but how I had to
cram and study whenever I could
get the time. 1 was always so
sleepy when in school, I barely
made the grades and when night
came stood up for long hours
trying to smile and be agreeable
to people I grew to hate. They
were all happy-go-luclSy and SEEM
ed not to have a care in the world.
I finally broke away from the
family, and got married. I do
thank my parents for seeing that
I had a profession that I could
use all of my life.
Within a few years, when was
about 80 years old my father went
to sleep one night and never woke
up. The bottom dropped out of my
life! I, who had never drank to
excess, became very fond Of the
bottle. I would not listen to my
mother nor my wife. Soon my
wife took our baby and left me. I
broke up housekeeping and went
home to live with my mother.
You have never heard Of me
being in any kind of trouble, have
you?" We both had to say, no. He
continued, All have ever done is
to myself. I don't gossip about
people nor lie about them. And I
can quit drinking whenever I
want to! So why doesn't my
mother stop nagging me? She will
drive me crazy.
We looked at him. Hearing his
side made you wonder why he
didn't stop drinking. He could
have been such a success with his
personality, and looks and he knew
all about people. He was a good
Judge of human nature. But here
he is, a young man in his very
early 4Os feeling sorry for him
self and blaming his parents be-
cause they put him to work in
their beer parlor when he was only
16.
His neighbor and my friend,
tried to tell him he could have
risen above all of that If he had
tried and not kept saying, I will,
tomorrow.
We know his mother loves him
but she got rich too fast. They
had been able to build a very
substantial home in the city. They
bought lots and built an all around
the year modern home at a lovely
lake resort. They all had cars Of
their own and they began to live.
The father, in his heart, never
changed. His friends Of before"
the money, were still his friends,
but his wife's friends had grown
by leaps and bounds. She was be-
ing "wined and dined" from week
to week and enjoying every min
ute Of it.
Joe felt left out of all of it. His
mother became increasingly pro-
Voked with him as he became fon-
der of the bottle. Naturally he did
embarrass her in front of her new
found friends. She became quite
cross with him so he soon stopped
working.
We looked across the street at
the big lovely home that holds no
laughter or joy for the son who
just STAYS" there.
The mother has her side, too.
She says all she asks is that Joe
straighten himself up, be a man,
act like one and she will treat him
like one. He says, II will, tomor-
row."
Every tomorrow has two hand
les; we can take hold by the
handle of anxiety or by the handle