THE LONELY CHRISTMAS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 698, 24 December 1909, Page 5

THE LONELY CHRISTMAS.

'■ For tho solitary man' or woman, especially for the solitary woman, Christmas Day is generally supposed .to bo tho most dreary dayin all- the year. Pile -loneliness has served as theme for . many. ;a; charming and sentimental story ; the haul-hearted heroino who has for long rejected'.the suit of a' faithful ! lover is frequently, reported as having yielded to the loneliness .of this: festive day; and she is depicted as sobbing-her . loneliness and: :grief on ; his Bhpnldfir-frieze, broadcloth, or tweed, according to tho circumstances of the, case, towards -the end of her lonely day, upon which he invariably murmurs gently that she will never be' lonely any.- more.- That:is one way of telling the story; there are many others, and so firmly is the thought of the; spinster's loneliness and lovelornness ; at ;Christmostide worked into the mind of the magazine- writer that, quite .recently one Of the- tribe, appraising, the Joys and sorrows of spinsterhooa, dealt seriously > with this traditional Christmas heartache, and almost convinced her readers, that: it was'worth: while for a woman l to endure a whole fifty-ono weeks of married life, every- year in -ordor': to have the true Christmas feeling for the fifty-seconds As a matter I of fact, ; solitude 'is . not to :■ be dreaded so greatly after all,'. and while the joys of family life may be : great, they, do.not make '.their strongest; appeal' during the hustle and . bustle of tho: preparations < for, . or : the consummation": of, the - festivities,: andthe average'spinster who has : toiled through the busy, rushing days from, say, December 15 to December 23, is quite able and willing to enjoy :,the restfulnessi of ■ a .quiet- Christmas, In the cold and sleet of an English or American winter, Christmas Day may bo the most: dismal in all the year to spend alone,' but in . the brightness and glow of a New Zealand summer the - day may be thoroughly enjoyed by any intelligent human 'being who. has no pressing worries and who has any resources of her own. Therefore, let the lonely Wellington, lady neither -pity herself nor; look for pity, but : let tior tako aU the pleasure, she con from a quiet leisure day in a" comparatively noiseless town.