17 July 2019: "But he almost never calls upon me now, and I was never one who could run after even my best friends, when they seemed to be having a better time without me. --And then it is foolish to expect to keep anything, in this changeable life." --Lucy Larcom, in an 1877 letter, discussing her changed and somewhat strained relationship with her friend/mentor/collaborator, John Greenleaf Whitter (qtd. in Marchalonis 208).
In preparation for my research trip in August, I have spent the last couple of days re-reading Shirley Marchalonis's excellent biography, The Worlds of Lucy Larcom, 1824-1893. Every time I read about Larcom or read her letters, I find so much to grab onto, to relate to, to think about. (And I know I've posted similar sentiments before.) I could have picked any one of a dozen quotations that stuck out to me on this re-read and perhaps the one above is a bit too maudlin for me to be saying "I feel seen!" but you know...it is what it is.
There's a comfort in knowing that someone struggled with and thought about similar kinds of questions and problems over 150 years ago. That isn't an incredibly profound insight--it's why we read and study history. But there is something so specific about Larcom--her life choices, her struggles, her joys--that makes me feel such a connection at times.
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