Page:This side the trenches, with the American Red cross (IA thissidetrenches00desc).pdf/23

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only anxiety. She began to lose her health. She was distraught with worry.

The Home Service worker discovered that the widow did not know how to knit; so she taught her how to make socks, sweaters, and other articles for her son, then to make things for boys who had no mothers to do this for them. At the same time the woman was helped to see how important encouraging letters were in stimulating her son to be successful as a soldier. With this as a beginning, the Home Service worker gradually gave her new opportunities for service and new interests. It became possible for the widow to meet her anxieties with cheerfulness, and ultimately she regained her health.

This same trouble of loneliness brought a young woman to the office of the Red Cross in a certain city. She and her husband had been married only a few months when he enlisted, and she had been unable to endure the empty, friendless hours in the little flat which they had rented.

The Home Service worker introduced her to a pleasant, motherly woman who, she happened to know, wanted a boarder. Home Service involves being acquainted with the right opportunity at the right time! This woman, having been told about the loneliness of the soldier's wife, took her to church with her. A class of girls in the Sunday school was without a teacher, and the young woman was asked if she would fill the vacancy. It was just what she needed. She accepted the responsibility and with a friend at home and work which she enjoys she has begun to feel that she belongs somewhere and to somebody. While the war lasts it