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. + P«9» » NORTHWEST HERALD SactlwiB Friday, $*pt«mb*r 1), 1M! DEAR ABBY B y A b i g a i l V a n B u r e n Happy couple bridges wide generation gap By Abigail Van Buren C INS by UnlvarMi Prtts Syn#k»t« DEAR ABBY: I wrote to you three years ago, telling you that a couple can be happily married even if there is a big gap in their ages because that is what happened to us. I was 14 and Jack was 61 when we married 10 years ago. We still love each other dearly, and he treats me like a queen. , We now have a son named Andrew Jackson. When I found out I was pregnant, we were so surprised we could hardly believe it. And yes, Jack is Andrew's father. I have been faithful to my husband all these years and will continue to be.* So you see, Abby, two people can be happy together regardless of their ages. I am enclos­ ing a picture of Jack, the baby and me. JANE MCCARTNEY, ~ DENISON, TEXAS i • ' DEAR JANE: Thank you for the progress report. The baby is beautiful, and you and Jack radiate happiness. Not every 14-year-old bride can live happily ever after with a husband 47 years her senior. Congratulations to your Jack whp treats you like a queen, and is able to deal you a full house. • • • • f i ' DEAR ABBY: I am sick and tired of hearing that alcoholism is an "illness." It isn't; it's a vice, a moral weakness and a lack of self- control. Although chronic excessive drinking can cause a number of diseases, it is not in itself a disease. I wish someone who insists that alcoholism is a disease would tell me what virus, bacterium or other micro-organism causes it. Or is it a genetic disorder, inherited at birth? Obviously, to classify alcoholism as a "disease" portrays the drinker as a "victim" who is not responsible for the damage his drinking does to himself and Others. Granted, this is very kind, but it is an undeserved kind­ ness, having no basis in fact. The fact is, everyone has a choice. He can either choose to drink or choose not to arink. And the person who chooses to drink more than he is able to handle is not an innocent victim of a "disease." He is a selfish drunk of his own making. * It's time we called a spade a spade. Thanks for listening. HAD MY SAY DEAR HAD: Because I necessarily mean I agree. 'listen" doesn't DEAR ABBY: I'm a 19-year-old college stu­ dent, and I've slept with a baby blanket for as long as 1 can remember. I've taken it to sum­ mer camp with me since I was 10, and now I have it at college. I am ashamed to say I am still very much attached to it. I've tried to sleep without it, but I feel like something is missing,, and I can't sleep. Do many adults have this kind of silly attach­ ment to a childhood thing? And what do you recommend? v. LOVES MY BLANKET DEAR LOVES: I recommend that you con­ tinue to sleep with it as long as you feel the need. Yes, many adults have that kind of at­ tachment to a childhood thing. (It's not silly; old familiar things offer security.) A 30-year-old married womaiuonce wrote to say she couldn't sleep without her tattered baby blanket and felt sufficiently ashamed to see a psychiatrist about it. He asked her three questions: Is it hurting anyone? Is it harming you? Do you enjoy it? The psychiatrist assured her that if it didn't hurt anyone, harm her and she enjoyed it, it was OK. I would add, "Is it legal?" (Every teen-ager should know the truth about drugs, sex and how to be happy. For Abby's booklet, send your name and address clearly printed with a check or money order for (2.50 and a long, stamped (39 cents) self- addressed envelope to; Oear Abby, Teen Booklet, P.O. Box 31923, Hollywood. Calif. 90031) In-the-street help for 100 million street children UPl photo UNICEF ffrtimttw there are about 100 million "street children" in the world. This photograph was taken of a young boy in Mexico who was found sniffing glue. « By John A. Calkott United Press International GENEVA -- Peter Tacon and his wife have nine children. Three are their own. The other six came from the world's streets. The Tacons adopted two of their children in El Salvador, two in Costa Rica, one in Colombia and one in Brazil to Join their own two girls and a boy. The adopted five boys and a girl were among the world's 100 mil­ lion "street children" as estimated by UNICEF, the U.N. Children's Emergency Fund. They are children who live day and night mi the streets, often sleep­ ing in corners. Some sell shoelaces for a few coins, but many are also exploited as drug pushers, thieves or prostitutes. After 10 years in Latin America, Tacon, 49, now heads a UNICEF street children program. Working from an office in Geneva, he travels at least half the year. "We started it as a major concern in 1964 and our first big report is due in 1906," the soft-spoken Canadian from Toronto said in an interview. His on-the-job adopted charges in­ clude 40 to 50 million children in Latin America -- 30 million of them in Brazil -- an estimated 30 to 40 million in Asia and Africa and around 10 million in the industrial­ ized countries. "What our program basically en­ tails is helping the children by digni­ fying their work," Tacon said. "Shining shoes, selling newspapers and chewing gum -- that can be protected and dignified." The objective is to have the chil­ dren work for 3 to 5 hours a day and then spend 3 to 5 hours at school -- not traditional schools but neighbor­ hood classes set up in any available (Phase turn to page 7) Fishermen help out in whale of a cause ByCarUBouwtt "We need a boundless ethic that includes the animals as well." Albert Schweitzer CHEERS FOR the Russian fishermen and scientists who earli& this year saved a herd of about 3,000 beluga whales from mass su£ focation in a Siberian ice Jam, coaxing them into opeh water witij classical music played from a ship. "...-- % Thefishermen, who are not above using such a situation to istcreaag their take of belugas, were moved by the massiveness of the Unpen* ding tragedy to call for help. The Soviet ice-breaker, Moskv^ responded, spending two weeks cutting a 15-mile path through tbg ice. During that time, helicopter teams dropped fish to the white whales, one-tenth of the world's beluga population, who were cramj med together for air at two holes in the ice. v > At tirst, the whales refused to follow the ship to open water. Then someone remembered that whales like music, and rock was played over the ships loud speaker system. The whales refused to move, however, until a classical record was played, whereupon they follow­ ed the ship to freedom. David McTaggart, international chairtnan of Greenpeace, Sent a message to the Soviet president, congratulating and thanking ttar Russians for the rescue, which reportedly cost the Soviet govern­ ment $80,000. McTaggart told the press he hoped the rescue would move the U.S.R.R. closer to abandoning commercial whale hunting.: CHOOSING A KITTEN? White cats with blue eyes are always deaf. If they have one blue eye and one of another color, which often happens, they are deaf in one ear wily. Tricolored cats are almost always females. Very occasionally one will be male, but he will be sterile -- although not impotent. WILD BIRD IN YOUR BASEMENT? Wait until dark, turn off the lights, open a basement window and set a light just outside it. The bird will fly toward the light. KITTEN CONQUERS MAN. "I had no intention," said Don Ladeit of the lams Co. (pet food), referring to the calico kitten be adopted from the Anti-Cruelty Society in Chicago. "I saw this little thing sticking her paw out of the cage." Laden, lams' regional sales manager, was there recently to deliver a healthy portion of the 200 tons of dog food his company is donating to animal shelters nation-* wide. 4 ! The following weekend the Anti-Cruelty Society had to put 110 cat$ to death in what a member called the "worst weekend in our history." Six out of every seven cats born in this country do not find homes. Even if we find homes for our litter, we are squeezing other kittens out. It's that simple. So please.... have your cat spayed or neutered. Earthling's philosophy is that kindness promotes more of the; same. If you know a person we can mention in The Kindness Connec­ tion for a small or large thoughtful act involving an animal (that in-) dudes sky lings and sealings, too), we'd appreciate your sending the name and details to "Earthlings," c/o the Northwest Herald. 78031 Pyott Road, Crystal Lake, IL 60014. •am* at cash FTTTfira Wood Grain •Cottnefll MAGNAVCK $1599 RIMOTEI CONSOLE 1*991 ^ OS* 0*9' monufOr*€>0*t $5" { I Portable Camera & Recorder Package ? maxefi T120 • N*wvicon fuO» loom 32 ot Industrial Company N*wvicon tuD* 6 a ou'o tocul pow loom i*n» ou'o Do'onc# and muc* mot*) 230 S. Virginia St. • Crystal Lake Aj vo««»4 4 c o~> lupo'*** (815) 455-2100 ps'cmt »ft+cl ~\rL ? '3 55 • c"t> " s'D"e As« 'cv oero'fs Monday thru Fr iday 11 -9 , Sa turday 10 -6 , Sunday I f 5 CHICAGO • HIGHLAND IN • OAK LAWN • VILLA PACK C d̂khn r ̂ (edieai VtimM Krysf ie Desiree Gregory f/5/15 Ashley Renay Stenger 1/27/15 Ryan Thomas Br Htany Nicole Schultz f/4/»5 Wagner ls/9/asl Blaise Kevin Gerstung 1/7/15 Bruce Edward Westbrook Jr 1/5/15 Melissa May Kaias 1/7/15 #< O KodyAlanKtta 1/17/15 Shannon Jean Poczekaj 1/11/15 Teresa Marie Rodriguez 1/16/15 Briana Colleen Brogan 1/7/15 Kyle Christopher Kunzer 1/26/15 V 4» Joseph John Sadoski 1/20/15 Amanda Lynn Kroncke 1/15/15 Patrick Dean Jokela 1/7/15 Nicole Louise Worn bough 1/16/15 NIMC is committed to making the birth of your baby a family-centered experience. Each birth experience is unique, just as each newborn and his/her family are unique. The birth of a baby today is one involving total family involvement, along with many individual preferences of just how a child should be welcomed into the world - - ' Congratulations to the families from the staff at Northern Illinois Medical Center Route 31 and Bull Valley Road McHenry. Illinois 60050 615/344-5000 «