A ROOM OF OUR OWN
Follette, Isabel B. La
A Room Of Our Own By Isabel B. La Follette's EVERYONE is showing strain. Tempers are short. The lack of security in the future is growing in young people, particularly the young married people....
...However, I'm not the stuff from which come martyrs— heaven forbid—and about every so often when pushed too far—and it may be the most trivial detail, like upturned noses at the dinner table—and off comes theJ lid...
...People on salaries always do feel the pinch in times such as these...
...I know, for example, what the difficult adjustments we have had to meet in our own family have meant in the development of the children (and perhaps their nia...
...Cauliflower is 45 to 55 cents a head and eggs are 75 cents—tiny ones at that...
...Although quite naturally and humanly we all yearn for the end of "the duration," I think we should very consciously guard against living too much in the future and missing out on the satisfactions still at hand...
...The rising cost of living bothers us, too...
...I get irked at myself for positively nagging at Jean and Tommie when they blithely leave a bit of bread and butter (1/4 lb...
...Phil, who always used to say that fortunately we both never got down in the dumps at the same time and the calm one could therefore yank the despondent member out, used to smile when I was "absolutely through" and remark that that meant I was about to dive in more furiously than ever...
...Keep up the splendid work, Mrs...
...per week when we are lucky) on their plates...
...Jean and Tommie wear strange enough clothes, though, so I'll have to wait until our salary ceases to have so many war-caused deductions...
...I didn't mean to be such a wailer...
...Waiting is always nerve-wracking, and we have no alternative but to pursue our individual duties, and, when these sagging periods come, to review the course in which we find ourselves, and to recognize that while it may not be what we chose, nevertheless there can be growth in the way we meet it...
...and in drawing closer the family ties...
...In actual cash we don't get much more than when we first married, and now, of course, the cash doesn't go as far...
...Every Rose Has Its Thorn' I can urge our friend of the above letter to consider the wives and mothers who believe they could endure any hardship if only their loved ones could be returned to them...
...This is a cheery note I'm dashing off...
...I'm one who believes that when things get too blessed tough, there is nothing like a good bout of complaining to put one back on her feet...
...On the other hand, as I often comment to those in my own "boat," (having a perverse New England perspective or sense of humor), I am never so desperate that I can overlook a little demon at the back of my mind who reminds me that every rose has its thorn, and that even when our men come home, life, being what it is, will not be one sweet song...
...I know we aren't badly off, comparatively speaking, but I do think more intelligent planning from Washington would help...
...We have been getting The Progressive from my sister...
...I used to have more than enough fish for one cheap dinner a week for 30 cents, but our last fish dinner cost 90 cents for dainty helpings...
...As I wrote Phil recently, the past two years have been an experience I should never advocate, but out of it have come undoubted assets...
...Fortunately, the children take their mother in their stride, realizing, as Bob once remarked, when scolded for "taking it out on the family," "Where else would you take it out...
...So I tell her, as I assure myself, "Keep the home fires burning, and the time is coming when we can do more...
...This is all very well to relate in our calmer moments, but there come times when we cannot see a single ray of sunlight on the horizon, and then it is good for one's soul to let off steam...
...That is a friend's privilege, too, and I'm happy that my Connecticut friend confided thus in me...
...I know from previous correspondence that she is a buoyant, optimistic person, living what she believes in, sending in names of prospective subscribers and doing what lies within her power for The Progressive, and giving me many a boost by her enthusiastic spirit...
...For one thing there is for each of us what Mary O'Hara describes in Thunderhead as "the ruthless joy one feels when one contrasts one's lot with others and realizes one is better off, the shame that one should be so crudely exultant, and the compassionate wish that there might be a cornucopia pouring out plenty for all...
...La Follette, we are only two of many who constantly say, 'At least The Progressive has its feet on the ground and its heart and mind with the people.'" The foregoing healthy "wail" from a Connecticut reader did my heart good...
...Frustration Of This Period What is really eating into all of us "civilian soldiers" is the feeling of frustration and impotence of this period...
...I still wish I had the money to send it to dozens of people...
...A Room Of Our Own By Isabel B. La Follette's EVERYONE is showing strain...
...On Letting Off Steam As I told the children recently in one of my own "blow-offs," I make a tremendous effort to keep their lives as normal and happy as possible and don't go moping around because my husband is gone...
...Anyway, The Progressive is a beacon in the darkness...
Vol. 7 • November 1943 • No. 47
