Article October 28, 1985 Issue

Widow with child: needs job

CONSTANCE L. BENAC

When unemployment becomes a national problem, and distressing headlines count the unemployed in the millions, the individual who isn't bringing home a paycheck may succumb to a negative conclusion: "How can I expect to find a job, when there are millions of men and women out of work? I'm a statistic—a nonentity!"

Such was the case in the United States during the early 1930s—before a national Work Projects Administration undertook to put people back to work. A young widow with a preschool daughter was obliged to take refuge in the home of her parents. She felt defeated, rootless, and quite unnecessary. Her skills seemed unwanted. Even her responsibilities as a mother seemed meaningless, since her own mother was more capable and entirely willing to love and care for the child. She faced, she thought, a stone wall too high to climb. And suppose she were able to climb the wall—would there be anything worthwhile on the other side? She doubted it. Then, because there seemed no other way out—she prayed, using the twenty-third Psalm as her foundation for an improved outlook.

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want . . . ." But she did want—she had many wants. She wanted a job, a home of her own, a husband. The wants brought tears to her eyes. Angry tears of frustration and self-pity.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

Drugs and the nature of man