Imperial Valley Press

WHAT IS A DADDY?
(Nevada State Journal)

Entitled "What is a Daddy," this little story appeared recently in a London newspaper. It was received a few days ago from a Nevada man who is an officer in the American Army in London and perhaps conveys in a measure what the war has meant to those mothers, dads and children, who are now our allies:

Mrs. Hall, of Bittacy Hill, Mill Hill, has been asked a question by her 3-year-old son David which she has not been able to answer.

David's question was: "What is a daddy?"

Now, David's father, who is in the King's Royal Rifles, left for service overseas just before David was born, and has not been home on leave since. That is the background to the question.

Mrs. Hall told me: "I really wanted most terribly to explain to David what a daddy is like, so I tried to tell him in a way he would understand. I told him a daddy was like what his little friend Jim has got. Jim's father has never gone away from home because he is a lorry-driver and reserved.

"David did not say anything, and I thought he understood. But next day he came back to it, asking me if a daddy was a man who drove a lorry, and I saw he still had no idea. I was in despair."

Now Mrs. Hall wants to know if anybody can help her explain to a child who has never had a daddy what a daddy is like.