Her book defined my heart-felt need to write. Like many of you, I completely identified with Jo March in Little Women:

“I’m so fond of writing, I should go spinning on forever if motives of economy didn’t stop me.” ~ Jo March

* * *

“You can do better than this, Jo. Aim at the highest, and never mind the money.” ~ Mr. March, Jo’s father

* * *

“Why don’t you write? That always used to make you happy,” said her mother once, when the desponding fit overshadowed Jo.

“I’ve no heart to write, and if I had, nobody cares for my things.”

“We do. Write something for us, and never mind the rest of the world. Try it, dear, I’m sure it would do you good, and please us very much.”

Ah, and this part:

“I don’t understand it. What can there be in a simple little story like that to make people praise it so? she said, quite bewildered.”

“There is truth in it, Jo, that’s the secret; humor and pathos make it alive, and you have found your style at last. You wrote with no thought of fame or money, and put your heart into it, my daughter; you have had the bitter, now comes the sweet. Do your best, and grow as happy as we are in your success.”

So there you have it! The inspiration of my youth.