Radio and television mirror (Nov 1939-Apr 1940)

Such reasonable words and so utterly useless when you're young and hungry for fun. I didn't know it then, but the same thing was going on at Ray's home. He had been married before — he'd told me all about it — and it hadn't worked out. And while his parents were very fond of me, they didn't want him to marry again until he was older and showed more interest in the responsibilities of marriage. But all that the parental warnings and pleadings did was to drive us into each other's arms. Without a word to anyone, a few weeks later, we slipped away to Michigan and were married. Though our honeymoon was terribly brief, it was glorious. We motored through Canada, stopping off at quaint way-side inns and tourist camps in the towering forests. But we returned soon enough to face our parents. I remember dreading my first meeting with Mother. I might have known how she'd be. Not one word of reproach. Just an eagerness to help us find an apartment, to see that we were settled. Ray's parents were the same way — so very understanding and trying hard to be helpful. It was as if they knew our marriage was doomed from the start. I must have always known how uncertain it was. Ray was only really happy when he was what he called "having fun." Home to him was a place to sleep when there was no other place to go after a long bright round of parties. WE never saved money. Often Ray and I would go out to the racetrack in the afternoon and lose more than he usually earned in a month. Oh, it was exciting enough . . . standing there at the track, yelling for our horse to come in first. But always, afterwards, were those terrible unvoiced fears I tried to fight down. And then the baby came and I began to pay the price of letting love blind me to reality. Because all the joy, the wonderful thrill of having my first child was dulled by the realization that he had been born into a home that now seemed doomed to failure. One night my worst fears were realized when the monotony of evenings spent quietly at home went beyond Ray's endurance. With a muttered "good night" he slipped on his coat and was gone. He didn't stay late. It wasn't that. It was the fact that he'd made the break finally, and there was no turning back. He knew it too, though we never discussed it. But in my heart was the black despair of knowing that I had to make my choice. I had to choose for myself and — for my son. Should I resign myself and bring our son up in an atmosphere of unrest, of unhappiness and perhaps later, of bitterness? Or should I, through the divorce courts, seek my freedom? And finding freedom, what then? I could not go back and become a drain upon my mother. The only training I had was my dramatic teaching. Which was the less desperate way? I made my choice, finally. I think I was right, though there were times when I was anything but sure. And the choice led — where? Read the second and final instalment of Virginia Clark's own dramatic search for happiness in the January issue of Radio Mirror. DECEMBER, 1939 ti You ought to hate yourself for spanking that child ! " Peggy shows Bill the modern way to bring up their child 1. BILL: You keep out of this, Peggy . . . I've 2. BILL: Don't you worry — he'll take that stuff got to make this boy listen to reason! if I have to hold his nose to do it. PEGGY: You're certainly going about it in a PEGGY: That's going from bad to worse. Don't funny way. you know that using force on a child can shock his entire nervous system? 3. BILL: Who said so? PEGGY: The doctor! Where do you think I've been all morning! I told him about our struggles in getting Junior to take a laxative. The doctor absolutely "put his foot down" on force. 4. PEGGY: Then I asked him about giving Junior some of the laxative you take, and again he said NO. He said an adult's laxative can be too strong for a tot. So he recommended a modern laxative made especially for children. 5. BILL: Is there such a thing? 6. BILL: He certainly takes it easy enough. PEGGY: Certainly! Fletcher's Castoria. There PEGGY: I'll say he does! Even the taste of isn't a harmful ingredient in it. It's mild, yet Fletcher's Castoria is made especially for chil surprisingly thorough. It won't form a habit dren. They love it. I don't see how any home or cause any griping cramps. And it's safe! can get along without it! (^z^fVM^IZ CASTORIA The modern — SAFE — laxative made especially for children 57