I just finished reading Louisa
May Alcott’s selection in our textbook (pp. 1750-1756), which is taken from Little Women. I admit Little Women is one of my all-time
favorite books, along with Jane Eyre! I
have read Little Women several times
over my lifetime so far, with the last reading being about 5 years ago.
I have fond memories of this
book. I first read it as a child of about 10. I fell in love with the
characters, the setting, everything. My favorite character has always been Jo,
the writer of the family, because she is very determined and independent. All
she does, she does for the sake of her family.
The story itself reminds me of
my childhood- running around everywhere with pencils and notebooks, to write my
poetry, short stories, and plays. Most of all it reminds me of my simple,
laid-back, slow lifestyle. I grew up in the mountains of southeastern Kentucky,
in the Daniel Boone National Forest to be exact. Life was different there. We
grew most of our own food, we cut our own firewood, we were basically self-sufficient
and most important, we were a very close-knit family.
The story reminds me of
watching Daddy build our house from the ground up, of our large wood burning
stove, and a foot of snow on the ground outside, being in the warm house and
eating homemade beef-stew, which simmered on the wood burner all day! This is
the setting for my first encounter with Little
Women. We, like the March family, pulled together for the best of the
family, we had to and loved every minute of it! Unlike Mr. March, who was gone
because of the war, Daddy came home from work at the telephone company every
evening; yet like Mr. March, Daddy did always have words of encouragement for
me and my aspirations!
I lost my precious Daddy to
cancer in July 2009, almost 3 ½ years ago, but his memory is alive and well
within me and in all the people’s lives that he so dearly touched. The story of
Little Women always brings me back to
my happy childhood memories!
No comments:
Post a Comment