The Gift of Sisterhood

“Little Women” Wilson Webb/Sony

“I could never love anyone as I love my sisters.” -Louisa May Alcott, Little Women. 

We sit in the theatre with 25 other women, waiting to see our beloved classic, Little Women, come to life before us on the big screen. Sisters, mothers, daughters, grandmothers, friends— all gathered together. 

There is nothing quite like a theatre filled with just women. It isn’t something you see often, but when you do, you know it’s special. 

The movie begins, and we laugh, cry, clap for our dear on-screen friends as they attend fanciful parties, dance in the most brilliant of ball gowns, marry handsome young men, pursue their passions, fight for success, stumble in failure, and, tragically, lose their sweet Beth. 

We see ourselves in each one of the March sisters. We can all be responsible and proper like Meg, passionate and furious like Jo, dreamy eyed and artistic like Amy, and caring and thoughtful like Beth. They inspire us to want to be better, kinder, braver.

"I want to be great or nothing!”

The March sisters don’t let life happen to them, they make life happen for them. They create captivating lives by their own agency and ambition. Meg, Jo, Amy, and Beth are proof that dreams don’t diminish our hearts; that our anger often goes hand in hand with a profound longing to be loved. 

The March sisters prove that the measure of a woman is not in what she does, but rather, is found in who she is.

Perhaps the most powerful lesson these dear sisters teach us is not how to fall in love or follow our dreams... but to cherish the gift of sisterhood. Sisters, blood-related or otherwise, belong to one another. Need each other. 

Guys may come and go (or pass between us… I’m looking at you, Laurie.) but our sisters will always be there beside us. They carry us through life bringing joy along with them. We turn to them in the most victorious triumphs, the pitfalls of rejection, and all the small, ordinary things in between.

We often lose sight of ourselves amidst the noisy world as it clamors to tell us who we are and what we can be. This happens to each one of the March girls. But who reminds them of their worth? 

Their sisters. 

Their dear, beloved sisters. 

They remind each other not just who they are, but what they are made of. 

“Women, they have minds, and they have souls, as well as just hearts. And they’ve got ambition, and they’ve got talent, as well as just beauty.”

We leave the theatre with a new sparkle in our eyes. Meg, Jo, Amy, and Beth help us not just to believe in ourselves, but to believe in each other.

To believe in the power of our own sisterhood, the gift we have in each other.

     “Families are the most beautiful things in the world.”