OUR CHILDREN
Patri, Angelo
Our Children By Angelo Patri= AS TO BE EXPECTED, the war has excited the emotions of youth. Boys of 18 are marrying girls in their teens before going off to the war. Already the trouble letters...
...The boy has discovered a divinity in the land of his sojourn...
...The young wife has discovered that she married a stranger whom she does not love...
...A marriage is a fact, and nothing, no effort of man or of his law, wipes out the fact...
...Let these children beware...
...They are victims of emotion induced by war...
...When that wears off as it usually does in a period of enforced separation, disillusion sets iii but the hard fact of a marriage stands fast...
...The girl who is worth her salt will wait for her man to return...
...Already the trouble letters are coming through the mail, one or two a day now, as the problems these youthful, often thoughtless marriages rouse begin to come to...
...What good is to follow the marriage of two very young people who have known each other three days, or even three months...
...Our system of education had kept them boys, and they will remain boys until the experiences of war mature them before their time...
...Will his young wife please divorce him so he can marry this lovely creature without whom he cannot live another hour...
...The spiritual scars of a major mistake^ will stay down the years...
...Once married the marriage sticks, divorce, separation, disillusion notwithstanding...
...Do, children, use your heads...
...The young husband is abroad, and there is a baby coming...
...We can only hope for the best...
...It stays to haunt or to bless, but it stays...
...Of one thing these heedless children must be assured...
...These are just a few samples of the troubles thpughtless young people bring upon themselves and their families...
...Any man worth marrying will consider well the responsibilities of his position and ask his girl to wait for him...
...Why hurry...
...The obligations of children to support and alimony to pay, will remain...
...The changes that this maturity will bring are what will, most likely, make many of these youthful marriages failures...
...If only these hasty children could get that idea set in their minds and act upon it they would save themselves a deal of grief...
...Who is to carry the responsibility .for the mother's care and the baby's welfare...
...That will allow time for adjustment if either one changes his mind...
...a crisis...
...Our boys of 18 were boys in fact until the Government called them men and put them in the service...
...Can she have the marriage annulled...
Vol. 8 • May 1944 • No. 18
