Dear Ann Landers,
re you tetched in the head or what? How can you advise a young girl to have a baby out of wedlock? Whether or not the parents are madly in love is of litde importance when a baby is on the way. Your advice in this case stank. -Alabama Reader

Dear Ann,
Good for you. I had a shotgun wedding, and I've wished a million times since that the gun had been pointed at me, not him, and that someone had pulled the trigger. I knew Jack didn't want to marry me, but my parents insisted. My mother kept harping, "Every child is entitled to a name. Nothing else counts now." I was only 17, a nervous little girl, ignorant and scared. I thought Mama knew best. Besides, I had brought so much shame on the family, I couldn't hold up my head-much less give them an argument. I've been miserable for 10 long years. I know now I would have been much better off facing the situation alone. Jack has never been a hus-band or a father, and I'm going it alone anyway. -Anna