Marmee-isms ~#24~ It Can't Be Helped

"Jo, I'm anxious about Beth."

Why, Marmee, she has seemed unusually well since [Meg's] babies came."

It's not her health that troubles me now; it's her spirits. I'm sure there is something on her mind, & I want you to discover what it is."

"What makes you think so, Marmee?"

"She sits alone a good deal, & doesn't talk to her father as much as she used to. I found her crying over the babies the other day. When she sings, the songs are always sad ones, & now & then I see a look in her face that I don't understand. This isn't like Beth, & it worries me."

"Have you asked her about it?"

"I have tried once or twice; but she either evaded my questions, or looked so distressed that I stopped. I never force my children's confidence, & I seldom have to wait for it long."

Mrs. March glanced at Jo as she spoke, but the face opposite seemed quite unconscious of any secret disquietude but Beth's; &, after sewing thoughtfully for a minute, Jo said ~

"I think she is growing up, & so begins to dream dreams, & have hopes & fears & fidgets, without knowing why, or being able to explain them. Why, Marmee, Beth's 18, but we don't realize it, & treat her like a child, forgetting she's a woman."

"So she is. Dear heart, how fast you do grow up," returned her mother, with a sigh & a smile.

"Can't be helped, Marmee, so you must resign yourself to all sorts of worries, & let your birds hop out of the nest, 1 by 1. I promise never to hop very far, if that is any comfort to you."

"It is a great comfort . . . "

Little Women ~ Ch. 32

Blessings from Ohio . . . Kim<><