Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1946)

What Should I Do? ( Continued from, page 68) of all, don’t ever doubt the wisdom of innocence. If you could read some of the tragic letters that I receive you’d know the wisdom of your choice. It is possible to stick to your ideals, yet have dates. Always plan your dates in a foursome or a sixsome. Never go out with a boy just for a drive. Insist that your evenings be planned; go bowling, go horseback riding, then go to the home of one of the girls for late sandwiches and coffee. Your mothers will be of great help if you will ask them to stand by. Let your mother insist that you be in at a certain time; have your family meet every boy friend you meet. If every single minute you are to be with a boy is planned, and kept busy, your difficulty will be minimized. In other words, keep moving. Be gay, have fun, dance, take an interest in a man’s plans for the future, but stay out of parked cars. Claudette Colbert Dear Miss Colbert: I was married at seventeen to a boy who was twenty-one. Because of our youth and ignorance we were miserable together, a state that was made worse after our little boy was born. I divorced my husband a year ago and moved back to live with my parents, bringing my eighteen-months-old son with me. Three months after my decree I met a fine fellow in the Air Corps. All the time he was based here we saw one another four and five times a week. He went home to be discharged after we had set our wedding date, engaged the minister, sent out invitations and I had purchased my trousseau. Three days before we were to be married, he was the honored guest at a farewell dinner party and dance given by his parents. After this affair, he and a girl he had known for years eloped. Naturally, I am in a horrible emotional state. I feel that I am the laughing stock of my friends, having failed twice in a romantic way. I don’t see many people because of my embarrassment, and I don’t work because Mother doesn’t want the responsibility of my son all day. I have wanted to leave my family, rent an apartment, secure an elderly woman to care for my son during the day, and get a job, but my parents are bitterly opposed to this plan. They say that I have caused them enough unhappiness without shaming them by living away from home. I have had several nervous spells which required the attention of a doctor who advised that I see a psychiatrist. My parents scoffed at this notion, saying that such practice was sheer quackery. As my parents partially support me (my divorced husband helps a little), I must do as they say. I think I could be all right if I were left alone to manage my life, but I don’t know how to accomplish this over my parents’ objection. I will appreciate anything you suggest, as I feel that a stranger’s viewpoint would be helpful. (Mrs.) Jessica H. Dear Mrs. H. First of all, it seems to me that each of us must face the fact that once a romance is over, it is as obsolete as the dodo. The thing to do is to collect oneself as rapidly as possible, accept the past as the past, and turn resolutely to the future. Certainly, you have had two unfortunate experiences, but you are now only twenty-one, barely on the threshold of life. Certainly at that stage you could not be considered a permanent romantic How long can pride keep a woman from the man she loves? This young woman’s stubborn pride caused unhappiness— and finally divorce — for her and the man she loved. Read how fate stepped in and played a strange trick on them both in “This Time — For All Time”, a complete book-length true to life story in May True Story. 9 OTHER THRILLING STORIES AND 9 FEATURES IN THE BIG MAY TRUE STORY . . . READ — “Graduation Dress”, a complete novelette about a woman who refused to grow up until years after her marriage. READ — “A Gift For Mr. Chen”, another heart-warming tale about your favorite Chinese couple. READ — These gripping, romantic stories — “Love, For Instance”, “Try To Understand”, “Hoop of Fire”, “Don’t Go Away”. READ — These exciting serials — “The Question Between Them”, “The Secret of Eva Sterling”, “Spurned Wedding Gift”. READ — These helpful, up-to-the-minute departments and special features — “True Story Homemaker”, “How Did You Meet?”, “Home Problems Forum”, “What America Is Talking About”, “Today’s Children”, “Sweet Land of Liberty”, “The Village Pump”, “This Month and Next”. ALL IN THE NEW MAY True Story ON SALE NOW! GET YOUR COPY TODAY! Enjoy listening to “My True Story” Every Monday Thru Friday Over The Stations of The American Broadcasting Company