Radio mirror (Jan-June 1948)

Our Hearts' Desire (Continued from page 21) married, how we could have a home of our own. When it came to the expensive honeymoon the magic seemed to run out along with the money. ; Mother told Mrs. Girard about our problem, and she began to fret about it too. She began writing letters to Hcflrt's D6sirG. She wrote thirteen letters, all asking for the same thing, a honeymoon on Catahna for Mary and me, bejore Heart's Desire took notice. Which isn't surprising, since the program gets some 15,000 letters a week and a lot of worthy people want important things. The thirteenth letter did the trick. The second of our trio of friends, a lady whose name I'll never know, I suppose, got Mrs. Girard' s letter when the mail was handed out to the audience at the program, and pleaded our case so well that Ben Alexander, master of ceremonies of the program, and our third friend, just had to let her read it. Our honeymoon was assured. BEN ALEXANDER telephoned me the day after the letter was read on the air, and told me of our good fortune. He explained that the program would defray not only the expense of our airplane trip to the island, our hotel bills and other expenses during the week we spent at Catalina but that —actually — the whole island would be ours to command for a week. The Catalina Island Company itself was in on the role of Good Fairy and had promised that the place would be ours for the duration of our stay. Ben told me a few of the possibilities: skyline drives, speed boating, trips in the famous glass-bottomed boats. I was a little dazed listening to the program Ben outlined. But then, I'd been a little dazed ever since I met Mary Jean. But I'll never plan a surprise party for the new Mrs. AUgood. I know that. Mary Jean is a girl who doesn't like being surprised. I'll remember that, because the way I feel about her, I never want to do anything in all our life together that she won't like. You see, like everybody else coming out of the service, I was pretty scared of the future when I finally got off that LST. I hadn't finished my education, didn't have a "trade". I felt I was too old to start college; my mother soon talked me out of that. I didn't even know what I wanted to do. I had been too young for girl friends when I enlisted in the Navy, so there was no girl of my dreams to come back to, to plan a life around. That such a girl turned up, and i quickly, saved me. I wish all the guys could be so lucky. I got home from the South Pacific — man, what a date to remember — on June 10, 1946. The family had a party none of us will ever forget. But after a few days the excitement wore off, and the anxiety — what is to become of me, what shall I do now? — set in. At this point, mother put her foot down, and insisted that I take advantage of the GI education bill. So I entered East Los Angeles Junior College in September. What was important was that Mary Jean Butts did too. After just a few days I knew what I wanted. Mary Jean. And she said yes! The first problem was a job. This was a stickler. I didn't want just an ordinary job — Mary Jean and I want a lot out of life. I wanted to go into business for myself. Businesses come high, and all I had was a little cash from my terminal leave pay and a few bonds. My father and my brothers helped at this point, and I bought a truck. I took the remainder of my cash, and bought a load of meat. Presto, I was "in business". I was a meat wholesaler. The next stumbling block was a house. Here too, we were in trouble, for we didn't want just an ordinary rented apartment. We wanted a home of our own. Choosey, aren't we? But we figured this marriage business was the biggest step of our lives, and it was important to do it right. I was nicely started in business, but there was certainly no piled-up capital with which to do any home-buying or home-building. Not with prices sky high, the way they were. We were strictly operating on margin. Up come the friends to the rescue again. A Navy friend of mine owned a small lumber yard. He would give me the lumber wholesale, he said. So we've built a house, and I mean built it ourselves — with our own hands, as Mrs. Girard put it. We've had a plumber's help for a day or two for the tough stuff, and an electrician once, but otherwise it's been like an old fashioned barn-raising, worked on by Mary Jean and me, our families, our friends, even the kids on the block. We put in the foundation, and the super-structure, the sheet-rock insulation, we've painted, papered, sawed and hammered, and we have a home. The wedding date has had to be postponed three times. Building is a tough job, and materials — for the small purchaser — are scarce as hen's teeth. We had a devil of a time, for instance, finding a bath tub. The fourth and final time we postponed the ceremony — from August 30 to October 12 — Mary Jean cried. Her marquisette wedding dress, which she had thought would be perfect for August, would be all wrong, she said. Girls are funny. I told her that I didn't care if it was burlap. BUT Mary Jean does care, and of course I do too, really. I've been as excited as she has about all the plans. We've invited a hundred and seventyfive people to the formal wedding and reception — that's so that all of the people who have helped us can share in the joy of seeing the Big Day! I'd like to say a big "thank you" here and now to Heart's Desire, not only because of what the program did for us, but because of the wonderful things it's doing for others. Heart's Desire is on the air for half an hour a day, five days a week and has evoked such an audience response that the 150 to 200 women who crowd into Tona Breneman's restaurant every day to volunteer as readers can't read all of the mail. Since the program makes a point of reading every communication, surplus mail goes every day to the Veterans' Administration and is turned over to invalid veterans who read and report on their findings. Then the program goes about fulfilling the Hearts' Desires that seem most worthy. At every heart beat another dream is put into words and sent off wrapped in hope to Heart's Desire. And some dreams come true. Just as ours did. At the first blush of Womanhood by VALDA SHERMAN Many mysterious changes take place in your body as you approach womanhood. For instance, the apocrine glands under your arms begin to secrete daily a type of perspiration you have never known before. This is closely related to physical development and is especially evident in young women. It causes an unpleasant odor on both your person and your clothes. No need for alarm— There is nothing "wrong" with you. It is just another sign you are now a woman, not a girl. It is also a warning that now you must select a truly effective underarm deodorant. Two dangers to overcome — Underarm odor is a real handicap at this age when a girl wants to be attractive, and the new cream deodorant Arrid is made especially to overcome this very difficulty. It kills odor instantly, safely and surely, then by antiseptic action prevents the formation of all odor for many hours and keeps you safe. Moreover, it protects against a second danger— perspiration stains. The physical exertion, embarrassment and emotion of the teens and twenties can cause the apocrine glands to fairly gush perspiration. A dance, a date, an embarrassing remark may easily make you perspire and offend as well as ruin a dress. All deodorants not alike — Don't take chances! Rely on Arrid which stops underarm perspiration as well as odor. No other deodorant gives you the same intimate protection as Arrid's exclusive formula. That's why Arrid is so popular with girls your age. They buy more Arrid than any other age group. More nursesmore men and women every where — use Arrid than any other deodorant. How to protect yourself —You'll And the new Arrid a snowy, stainless cream that smooths on and disappears in a jiffy. Never gritty or grainy. The American Institute of Laundering has awarded Arrid its Approval Seal — harmless to fabrics. Gentle, antiseptic Arrid will not irritate skin. No other deodorant tested stops perspiration and odor so completely yet so safely! Don't be half-safe — During this "age of courtship," don't let perspiration problems spoil your fun. Don't be half-safe— be Arrid-safe! Use Arrid to be sure. Get Arrid right away, only 394 plus tax at your favorite drug counter. R (.Adveitisement) 65