When people find out that I am an author, I am always intrigued by the various reactions that I receive. The look I receive most often is that of bewilderment quickly followed by the words, “No, you don’t.” Then I have to prove it to them by pulling a book up on one of the merchant’s sites. Keep in mind, I teach high school kids, which are never very trusting in the first place. Then they start firing the questions and I answer as best I can.
One question I don’t think they have ever asked is, “what started this?” But I found myself coming across something old and familiar as I was searching for my “Throw Back 
Thursday” book cover. Little Women is what started it all for me. I think that one scene simply called “Under the Umbrella” is the most romantic scene of any love story I have read to date. This is the part that makes my heart melt every time:
“‘Ah! Thou gifest me such hope and courage, and I had nothing to gif back but a full heart and these empty hands,’ cried the professor, quite overcome.
Jo never, never would learn to be proper; for when he said that as they stood upon the steps, she just put both hands into his, whispering tenderly, ‘Not empty now,’ and, stooping down, kissed her Friedrich under the umbrella.”
*sigh* How could that not make you melt? How could you not fall in love with Friedrich Bhaer right then and there? How could you not wish to be Jo March in that very moment? *sigh*
Thank you, Mrs. Bryan (6th grade Reading Teacher) for introducing me to this beautiful story, staying my friend through the years, and encouraging me in my own endeavors. So, there you have it, not just the book, but the exact text within the book that started my love affair with romance and happily-ever-afters.
If you have not read Little Women, I encourage you to do so. It is a lovely book about four sisters finding their way in the world, and even though it takes place during the Civil War, it is amazing how so many things they go through is still applicable today.
If you are reading this, I would like to know, what started your love affair with romance books and happily-ever-afters?
Happy reading!
Tammy Jo
excerpt taken from:
Alcott, Louisa May. Little Women. Illustrated by Michael Adams. New York: A Golden Book, 1987.
