Did you know Louisa May Alcott didn't really want to write for girls? She had a lucrative pulp fiction career, when an editor on her publishing team pushed her to dabble. She begrudgingly agreed to write Little Women. She notes that she didn't know what to write, so she wrote about her sisters and herself. Meg is actually her sister Anna, Beth is her sister Lizzie, and Amy is based on her sister May. Louisa May based Jo on herself.
Aren't you glad she dabbled?
I fell in love with all the delightstruck of the March sisters and the tale of Little Women long ago. My mother loved it and introduced the beautiful piece of literature to my sisters and me. She read to us until we could read to ourselves. I could read it over and over again and never bore of its contents. I love the various movie adaptations just as much.
Sometimes I think when we write what we know and let bits and pieces of the real authentic us shine through, it can't help but resonate with people. Often the raw and real that I write here is what has the highest reads. It's often the hardest for me to write. Go figure.
So where am I going with all this Little Women stuff? I have a point, peeps. I promise. Stay with me.
Alcott wrote what she knew. What was in her heart. She drew from childhood experiences with her beloved sisters and the dynamics of her parent's relationship. It molded and formed the woman and writer she bloomed into later in life.
My silly sisters and I (there are four of us as well) have often tried to figure out which March sister we match. As I think about those March sisters gathered in the attic, around the fireplace or in their little kitchen, the thing that strikes me most is that they shared in each others joys and heartache fully. They lived well and deeply. They basked in the simple pleasures of each others company. They were sisters - soulmates through and through.
This past week, my 34-year-old nephew passed unexpectedly. Standing alongside and watching my sister grieve has been one of the hardest things. There really are no words. None. If I could take it away for her or change it, I think anyone that loves her would. But we can't. Harder than any other struggle life has ever brought to my door, even the loss of our sweet mama a few years back.
As I sat at the services this past weekend and I listened to family and friends talk of my sweet nephew, I couldn't help but come away with the fact that my sister poured every ounce of love she could into him (as well as for her daughter) all the way up until those last moments. Her love is a thing of great beauty. She mothered like a rock star, even when it was hard. It created the gentle beautiful soul her child became (okay my brother-in-law gets lots of credit too). Because of them, my nephew grew into an amazing young man, who touched so many that were lucky to have known or loved him in this life.
And as one of my other brother-in-laws said, "love the people closest to you a little bit more each day - you'll never regret it." You really won't peeps.
So I guess what I am trying to say other than love well and deeply, is that I am ever so thankful that God gave me my sisters. I love them immensely. There's nothing like a sister. They know you through and through. And before you say, hey, I'm an only child, or I only have brothers, or you've not met my sister... God puts people in your life to fill gaps. If you don't have a rock star sister, ask for Him to fill the gap. You may just get an amazing sister-in-law or a friend that is as close as a sister. I'm abundantly blessed, somehow I got all of those things in this life and each day I count my blessings for my sisters, my sister-in-laws, my BFFs and many other remarkable women in my life.
Cheers to the "little women" in your life. May they be in abundance.
Aren't you glad she dabbled?
I fell in love with all the delightstruck of the March sisters and the tale of Little Women long ago. My mother loved it and introduced the beautiful piece of literature to my sisters and me. She read to us until we could read to ourselves. I could read it over and over again and never bore of its contents. I love the various movie adaptations just as much.
Sometimes I think when we write what we know and let bits and pieces of the real authentic us shine through, it can't help but resonate with people. Often the raw and real that I write here is what has the highest reads. It's often the hardest for me to write. Go figure.
So where am I going with all this Little Women stuff? I have a point, peeps. I promise. Stay with me.
Alcott wrote what she knew. What was in her heart. She drew from childhood experiences with her beloved sisters and the dynamics of her parent's relationship. It molded and formed the woman and writer she bloomed into later in life.
My silly sisters and I (there are four of us as well) have often tried to figure out which March sister we match. As I think about those March sisters gathered in the attic, around the fireplace or in their little kitchen, the thing that strikes me most is that they shared in each others joys and heartache fully. They lived well and deeply. They basked in the simple pleasures of each others company. They were sisters - soulmates through and through.
This past week, my 34-year-old nephew passed unexpectedly. Standing alongside and watching my sister grieve has been one of the hardest things. There really are no words. None. If I could take it away for her or change it, I think anyone that loves her would. But we can't. Harder than any other struggle life has ever brought to my door, even the loss of our sweet mama a few years back.
As I sat at the services this past weekend and I listened to family and friends talk of my sweet nephew, I couldn't help but come away with the fact that my sister poured every ounce of love she could into him (as well as for her daughter) all the way up until those last moments. Her love is a thing of great beauty. She mothered like a rock star, even when it was hard. It created the gentle beautiful soul her child became (okay my brother-in-law gets lots of credit too). Because of them, my nephew grew into an amazing young man, who touched so many that were lucky to have known or loved him in this life.
And as one of my other brother-in-laws said, "love the people closest to you a little bit more each day - you'll never regret it." You really won't peeps.
So I guess what I am trying to say other than love well and deeply, is that I am ever so thankful that God gave me my sisters. I love them immensely. There's nothing like a sister. They know you through and through. And before you say, hey, I'm an only child, or I only have brothers, or you've not met my sister... God puts people in your life to fill gaps. If you don't have a rock star sister, ask for Him to fill the gap. You may just get an amazing sister-in-law or a friend that is as close as a sister. I'm abundantly blessed, somehow I got all of those things in this life and each day I count my blessings for my sisters, my sister-in-laws, my BFFs and many other remarkable women in my life.
Cheers to the "little women" in your life. May they be in abundance.
-Jen
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