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A New England Girlhood, Outlined from Memory (Beverly, MA)
·
Lucy Larcom
210
My
sister's
husband
was
a
grammar
school
master
in
the
city,
and
their
cottage,
a
mile
or
more
out,
among
the
open
fields,
was
my
frequent
refuge
from
homesickness
and
the
general
clatter.
Our
partial
separation
showed
me
how
much
I
had
depended
upon
my
sister.
I
had
really
let
her
do
most
of
my
thinking
for
me.
Henceforth
I
was
to
trust
to
my
own
resources.
I
was
no
longer
the
"little
sister"
who
could
ask
what
to
do,
and
do
as
she
was
told.
It
often
brought
me
a
feeling
of
dismay
to
find
that
I
must
make
up
my
own
mind
about
things
small
and
great.
And
yet
I
was
naturally
self-reliant.
I
am
not
sure
but
self-reliance
and
dependence
really
belong
together.
They
do
seem
to
meet
in
the
same
character,
like
other
extremes.
The
health
of
Emilie's
husband
failing,
after
a
year
or
two,
it
was
evident
that
he
must
change
his
employment
and
his
residence.
He
decided
to
go
with
his
brother
to
Illinois
and
settle
upon
a
prairie
farm.
Of
course
his
wife
and
baby
boy
must
go
too,
and
with
the
announcement
of
this
decision
came
an
invitation
to
me
to
accompany
them.
I
had
no
difficulty
as
to
my
response.
It
was
just
what
I
wanted
to
do.
I
was
to
teach
a
district
school;
but
what
there
was
beyond
that,
I
could
not
guess.
I
liked
to
feel
that
it
was
all
as
vague
as
the
unexplored
regions
to
which
I
was
going.
My
friend
and
room-mate
Sarah,
who
was
preparing
herself
to
be
a
teacher,
was
invited
to
join
us,
and
she
was
glad
to
do
so.
It
was
all
quickly
settled,
and
early
in
the
spring
of
1846
we
left
New
England.
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