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A New England Girlhood, Outlined from Memory (Beverly, MA)
·
Lucy Larcom
154
We
had
many
opportunities
of
escape
towards
our
native
shores,
for
the
larger
part
of
our
large
family
still
remained
there,
and
there
was
a
constant
coming
and
going
among
us.
The
stagedriver
looked
upon
us
as
his
especial
charge,
and
we
had
a
sense
of
personal
property
in
the
Salem
and
Lowell
stagecoach,
which
had
once,
like
a
fairy-godmother's
coach,
rumbled
down
into
our
own
little
lane,
taken
possession
of
us,
and
carried
us
off
to
a
new
home.
My
married
sisters
had
families
growing
up
about
them,
and
they
liked
to
have
us
younger
ones
come
and
help
take
care
of
their
babies.
One
of
them
sent
for
me
just
when
the
close
air
and
long
days'
work
were
beginning
to
tell
upon
my
health,
and
it
was
decided
that
I
had
better
go.
The
salt
wind
soon
restored
my
strength,
and
those
months
of
quiet
family
life
were
very
good
for
me.
Like
most
young
girls,
I
had
a
motherly
fondness
for
little
children,
and
my
two
baby-nephews
were
my
pride
and
delight.
The
older
one
had
a
delicate
constitution,
and
there
was
a
thoughtful,
questioning
look
in
his
eyes,
that
seemed
to
gaze
forward
almost
sadly,
and
foresee
that
he
should
never
attain
to
manhood.
The
younger,
a
plump,
vigorous
urchin,
three
or
four
months
old,
did,
without
doubt,
"feel
his
life
in
every
limb."
He
was
my
especial
charge,
for
his
brother's
clinging
weakness
gave
him,
the
first-born,
the
place
nearest
his
mother's
heart.
The
baby
bore
the
family
name,
mine
and
his
mother's;
"our
little
Lark,"
we
sometimes
called
him,
for
his
wide-awakeness
and
his
merry-heartedness.(Alas!
neither
of
those
beautiful
boys
grew
up
to
be
men!
One
page
of
my
home-memories
is
sadly
written
over
with
their
elegy,
the
"Graves
of
a
Household."
Father,
mother,
and
four
sons,
an
entire
family,
long
since
passed
away
from
earthly
sight.)
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