Page Twelve
THE NEW BERN MIRROR, NEW BERN, N. C.
Friday, December 25, 1970
I,
NOEL
God grant you at Christmas the
exceeding great joy the shepherds
felt as they beheld the Star.
CAROLINA OIL &
DISTRIBUTING CO.
A FORUM ABOUT MATURE WOMEN
DAREDEVIL SON
Dear Margaret Brookfield;
When my husband passed away
six months ago, he left us
adequately provided for
financially, but it didn’t seem
right now to have a man as the
head of family. So I told my 16-
year-old son, Bobby, that that
was not his job. (He’s the oldest
of my three children.) But
instead of taking on
responsibility for the other
children as I hoped Bobby has
become increasingly wild. He
takes all kinds of dangerous
risks and is always getting
banged up. So far it’s been
mainly cuts and bruises, but
lately he’s taken up drag
racing. And when his father was
alive he used to be such a
sensible boy. I’m terribly
worried about him and don’t
know what to do.-G. B., De
Ridder, La.
Dear G. B.: Perhaps your son
wasn’t quite ready to be the
“man” in the family and is
trying to tell you this by his
reckless behavior. Why not ease
up the pressure to have him
take his father’s place during
this period of readjustment for
all of you? Let Bobby be a boy
for a while longer. Then
perhaps it might be easier for
him to become a man.
RECREATION, PLEASE
Dear Margaret Brookfield: I
am a 48-year-old widow with a
married daughter and two
wonderserful grandchildren. I
live alone in a small apartment
and go out very little. I’m not
anti-social, but a chornic spinal
condition prevents me from
getting around as much as I’d
like. Sometimes it gets pretty
lonesome. I wonder what other
stay-at-homes like myself do for
recreation.-T. R., Burley,
Idaho.
Readers: I know some of you
with similar stay-at-home
problems have come up with
interesting solutions. Why not
share them with T. R. in Idaho
and the rest of us everywhere?
A DRINKING PROBLEM?
Dear Margaret Brookfield:
My husband who is 52 has a
good job with a sales
organization. He keeps insisting
though that drinking is part of
his job and that he must do it.
He not only has several
cocktails at lunch, but also at
night with his dinner. I’m
concerned about this much
drinking, but he says I’m just
being a prude. How can you tell
if a person has a drinking
problem?-L. U. Paoli, Pa.
Dear L. U.: Dr. Morris E.
Chafetz of Boston’s General
hospital lists these five warning
signals; 1. losing a job because
of alcohol; 2. needing medical
or hospital attention because of
alcohol; 3. being arrested
because of alcohol; 4. having an
automobile accident because of
alcohol; and 5. behaving in a
way a person says he never
would had he not been under the
influence of alcohol. If any of
these apply to your husband,
you might contact your local
Alcoholics Anonymous to talk
with someone knowledgeable
about the problem. But even if
these warning signals don’t
apply, your husband might still
be doing himself considerable
physical harm with his
drinking.
HOPING IT'S A
Purr-feet Christmas
Five Points Milling Co