Naturally I wanted to have my own knick-knacks displayed in the sparkling glass case along with my mom's treasures. And when I asked she said yes. So for years there were two of these little figurines of my own presented behind glass right along with hers; holding a place of honor. Truthfully they were rather ugly, but mom let me display them anyway. That made me feel loved.
High above my own ugly knick-knacks, way upon the topmost shelf of the glass cabinet, was a set of five dolls. Mom always said that they represented each of her girls. They were little china dolls of each of the women from the book/movie "Little Women".
There was Marmi, Meg, Beth, Joe, and Amy. And mom said that they each reminded her of one of her own little women. First there was Marmi. She didn't represent one of us, but she was the mother figure. I'm sure that mom, never thought herself correlated with the character of Marmi. I however can't think of a better correlation to draw. Marmi was strong and opinionated, she cared deeply for people and was a force for good. She was a kind healer and a voice of wisdom to her little women.
I think my mother will always be akin to Marmi March, and I'll stay happily deluded no matter what anyone might say to the contrary.
Next in line was Meg, the eldest and she represented my sister Melisa. Melisa is the eldest of my sisters, she is deeply passionate and deeply empathetic toward those she comes in contact with. Meg's character marries a gentile and kind man, and I can't help but smile because I know my Melisa will no doubt do the same. Meg felt the burden of being the eldest, knowing how she married would effect her family. My sister Melisa may not be burdened with the obligation of marrying well to support her sisters, but she is definitely burdened with the role of being the eldest. She finds much responsibility thrust on her shoulders, and I can't express enough, how grateful I am that she is able to take that responsibility and keep our family together. I'm blessed to have Melisa as my "Meg" in my life.
The next young woman is Beth, who correlates with my sister Autumn. Through the story, Beth is always the figure of sweetness and kindness, with a streak of teasing proficiency that I clearly see in my sister Autumn. She's the backbone of the sisterhood, the sounding board of her sisters cares and
the tender heart that feels deeply for those she loves. I know that her influence on my life will have a lasting effect on me forever.
Mom correlated the next of the little women with myself; Joe, the awkward and vibrant one. I can't say how abhorrent I found the correlation to be when I was younger. Joe was the one who made the stupid choices, she was the one that turned down marriage proposals, then ended up with the old guy at the end of it all. But having re-watched the movie since my mom has passed away I'm left reflecting. Joe was the one who the story followed, and who we saw the most of, and I'm quite flattered now to be compared to this character. I'm left to wonder exactly what qualities in me, that my mom saw, that made me her Joe.
Joe is supremely talented, she has such a gift for writing, (my pinky toe into literary waters hardly qualifies me to claim such a correlation with abundant enthusiasm, I flatter myself slightly, all the
same), she was awkward and strange, and she had a great selfish streak in her that I can see in myself. But she was willing to do anything for her family. She cut her hair for train tickets to send her mom to her fathers side. I feel pleased to be so correlated. If my mom saw me as such a passionate person, someone with creativity and a desire to always become something more, than I couldn't be more thrilled.
Lastly of all the little women is Amy, and my sister Kjarsti whom she is correlated with. Amy's character was a little brat. Haha, I know on many occasions that I indeed found myself seeing only the negative correlation between my youngest sister Kjarsti and Amy. But now, re-watching the story I'm finding what I think my mom did; Amy is a character of deep longing, she wants to be like her sisters, she wants to be included, but Amy has such great insight into people throughout the story. She understands things that her sisters did not. She had a great capacity to love and to see the true potential and intentions of others. This is what I think my mom saw in my sister Kjarsti. She is unbelievably kind and sees such goodness in those she works with. Only someone with such a soul could spend their profession caring for the elderly with such joy and love. (I'm so impressed with Kjarsti for this, and I admire her for that.)
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I'm so glad mom thought so highly of us, and now that she's no longer around to protest it... I'm happy to think so highly of her too. I miss my Marmi. I know all all her little women do, and what a blessing it was to be yours; Your own little women!
