Page:Side talks with girls (1895).djvu/242

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THE YOUNG WIFE'S FIRST YEAR

VERY many of my girls were last June's brides, and yet they have been loving and kind enough to ask that they may still be on the list to which they belonged before the title of "mistress" was put before their names.

As the days go by it dawns on the mind of the young wife that the man she loves is regarding her no longer as an angel, no longer as a bit of Dresden china, and, just at first, she is surprised. Nobody has told her that the first year of her married life would be the most difficult one. During that time she must learn what it is to be a companion to her husband. She must remember that she has entered into his life, that she must be his comrade through good fortune and through bad, and encourage him to look at the best side of life and always to hope when it is dark for sunshine in the future. The years or months of courtship have not made these two people acquainted with each other. The little bit of temper that was so care-