Loss of sleep and appetite do not invariably occur from an attack of the “grand passion,” but they have been known to follow in its wake. Perhaps your food is not well chosen, and that you need fresh air and exercise, or perhaps a tonic. People are frequently deceived in matters like the one you mention. I would advise you to study the state of your liver and not lay the blame on your heart until all the other organs have demonstrated that they are perfectly normal.
“I am so much in love that I am positively miserable! I keep thinking that perhaps my lover will prove false or that something will happen that I will never marry him. There is hardly a day or night that I do not picture him dead, and then the tears roll down my cheeks. I cannot help it. Do you think he will ever appreciate such affection as this? Do I not love deeper and harder than any other woman?
“Etta W.”
We are sorry to hear that your love is making you miserable. Love is the great brightener and beautifier of the world. There should be no instance where it makes one miserable. We are afraid you are just a little morbid, Etta, but do not think for a minute that you are the only little girl who has ever suffered from such fancies. When one loves, one is always anxious about the welfare of the loved one, and a nervous condition like yours always exaggerates matters.
No, we do not believe you are the “hardest” lover in the world. Many women have not only died but given up their lovers, for love, and this, I am afraid, is far beyond your capabilities.
“I was in Boston last week and went canoeing on the Charles River. It is a beautiful spot, and I was astonished at the scores of young girls and fellows who were out canoeing. My chaperone called my attention to the vulgar attitudes of many of the girls who were lying about on the banks, many of them with their escort’s arms around them. Of course, being a young girl, I was terribly shocked, yet the spot was so ideal that I could hardly blame them. Do you think it is wrong to yield to such fascinating surroundings? My chaperone would be shocked if I asked her such a question.
“Lottie B.”
We know exactly how you felt when you saw the vulgar display upon the banks of the Charles River. We have often seen girls and even women lying about on the seashore in unladylike attitudes, but it never occurred to us to excuse them because of “fascinating surroundings.” In the first place, your chaperone was foolish to call your attention to it. You might possibly have not noticed it, and she should not have given you the opportunity. A girl or woman who assumes unladylike attitudes in public is a very vulgar person. We can overlook a little love-making and sentiment under such conditions, but anything that borders on vulgarity is not to be tolerated.