I guess now it's Chapter 23...

Little Women has always been one of my favorite movies. Every part of it has meant something to me at some point during the 15 years since I first saw it (IN THEATERS!). I find new things to love about it every time I watch it. 

For the most part, I love it because it reminds me of my sisters. I'll be honest, I can scarcely make it through the beginning credits without crying (if you've ever watched this movie, you know what I'm talking about). Watching it reminds me that we're all far away from each other, and that our simple times growing up together are so very distant in the past. 

"We'll all grow up someday, Meg. We might as well know what we want..."

Amy

I don't feel like my sisters and I ever had a moment of foreshadowing like that... a moment where we ever thought about what life would be like outside of our beloved home, after all of the seasons would pass and changes would come. I don't think I ever really knew what I wanted later on. Growing up, I was the Beth of the family. Always wanting things to stay the same. Never understanding why anyone would want change. Attached to and emotional about everything in my path...

"Why does everyone want to go away? I love being home..."

Beth

As I've grown up, I've become more of a Jo... leaving home, finding out where and what I'm supposed to be. I also found a husband. 

"You don't need scores of suitors... you only need one, if he's the right one."

Amy

(That was for you, Maggie)

Now, as I find myself married and madly in love, I find a new section of Little Women to appreciate for the first time... the relationship between Jo and Professor Bhaer. I don't know about you, but when I first watched this movie at the tender age of 8, I thought Jo was CRAZY to refuse Laurie. Maybe because it was Christian Bale, MAYBE NOT, but either way I could not understand how she would rather be with that old man (Now that I think of it, it could've also had something to do with the money. I think I may have been an aspiring gold digger back then...).

The fact is, I understand the love between a man and woman a lot better now than I did when I was 8. Their love (although romanticized) is so simple. Professor B.'s interpretation at the opera said it best...

Your heart understood mine. 

In the depth of the fragrant night, 

I listened with ravished soul to your beloved voice. 

Your heart understood mine.

I could write about this movie for days and days...

but I'm not going to.