Marriage to a Difficult Man by Elisabeth Dodds

Marriage to a Difficult Man

The Uncommon Union of Jonathan & Sarah Edwards

Elisabeth Dodds

Published 1971

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Married to a Difficult Man is a comprehensive history/biography about the Colonial American Puritan pastor, Jonathan Edwards, his wife, Sarah, their children, and the times and places they lived. 

THE UNION

The story began with the union of Jonathan and Sarah. Edwards was bookish and studious, and while women were not expected to be educated in the 1700's Puritan world, "Sarah had the best training a girl was allowed to have then." She was a "young lady of quality," and was trained well in many skills. She even practiced good posture for many hours - a lost art. Jonathan may have met his match in Sarah's mind, but he was terribly awkward in the area of social graces. 

Nonetheless they discovered their shared love for nature and books, which could be enough to keep any union vigorous; but of course there was more to their union. Sarah would be marrying a minister, and with that came unique obligations and responsibilities. It takes an exceptional woman to wed and stay married to a man of the pulpit, particularly a man who disappeared for long periods of time reading, researching, writing, and traveling. 

In addition to his "horrendous" working hours, she had to contend with her husband's not uncommon communications and connections with other women in the church, as "the majority of members in the New England church were women."

To be sure, the author makes a major portion of the book about their love and faithfulness to each other. A family friend recalled how Edwards 

could trust everything...to the care of Mrs. Edwards with entire safety and undoubting confidence. She was most judicious and faithful mistress, habitually industrious, a sound economist, managing her household affairs with diligence and discretion. 

She uniformly paid a becoming deerence to her husband and treated him with entire respect, conforming to his inclination and rendering everything in the family agreeable and pleasant. She accounted it her greatest glory and there wherein she could best serve God and her generation, to be the means of promoting his usefulness and happiness. 

In return, Edwards "treated her as a fully mature being (as a person whose conversations entertained him, whose spirit nourished his own religious life, whose presence gave him repose).

RAISING UP CHILDREN

Sarah and Jonathan were blessed with eleven children. Jonathan believed that 

as innocent as children seem to be to us, yet...they are naturally very senseless and stupid, being born as the wild ass's colt and need much to awaken them. 

At the end of each day, Jonathan dedicated an hour to his family. He educated his children in church history, Latin, Greek, rhetoric, and penmanship. He listened to their lessons and expected them to compose their own prayers. But it was Sarah who trained them up in godly character and self-discipline. 

It is impressive to consider what the sole union of Sarah and Jonathan produced. By 1900, the Edwards family could boast (though they probably wouldn't):

13 college presidents

65 professors

100 lawyers

1 dean of a law school

30 judges

66 physicians 

1 dean of a medical school

80 holders of public office

3 U.S. senators

3 mayors 

3 governors

1 U.S. Treasury Controller

1 U. S. Vice President

THE REVIVAL

There were two religious revivals under Jonathan Edwards, called The Great Awakenings. The colonial settlements of America had quieted into a lull, bored with religion and suspicious of church structure. 

The beginnings of the first Great Awakening, in 1734, had fractured and weakened many churches. There was an emotional fervor taking over the town, and Edwards sought to channel it into sensible discernment. He wrote biblical directions to test if conviction was true or empty emotion. When the effect swung in the opposite course, and people wearied in "despair... [with] a terrifying sense of God's anger," Edwards worked to keep the movement well-grounded in truth. He focused their faith into action. 

The second revival in 1740-41, occurred when George Whitefield, the English evangelist, visited America. It was also the same time that Edwards wrote his sermon: Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. It fell on deaf ears when he read it to his own congregation; however, some months later as a guest pastor , he read the same sermon, and there it made history. That sermon may well have changed the face of New England. 

But with religious revivals, there was a counter: churches further splintered and "religious experience [was] grotesquely distorted by emotionalism." And with it, a host of false teachers led false converts away. 

BACK TO SARAH

The most interesting chapter was on Sarah and her nervous breakdown, which led to either her true  "conversion" or further growth in her walk with Christ. Sarah struggled internally, particularly after childbirth. "Her disproportionate responsibilities began to overtax her." She was tempted to think the worst of her husband, her children and herself, and she fought to not reveal: 

I'm not as endlessly giving as I appear to be, and this is an impossibly difficult man. 

As her husband was frequently away, she carried the management of their large household solely on her own, without relief for her own fears or anxieties. She was crushed by the opinions of others in the congregation, of not only herself but also for her husband. The burdens became heavier. She eventually felt she was wrestling with God. 

For Sarah, it was a personal Great Awakening, and when she literally came to, she 

stopped straining to please God (and man) and began to live in the assurance of a salvation she didn't have to try to deserve. She stopped pushing herself to be worthy of Edwards' love and from then on had his unreserved admiration. 

She recalled how she awoke and:

...was led to reflect on God's mercy to me in giving me, for many years, a willingness to die, and after that...in making me willing to live.  

BACK TO JONATHAN

Edwards took on the sinfulness of the community, becoming very liberal in his opinions about trivial matters while stepping on some consciences along the way. He commented on his congregations' owning too few books - evidence for a lack of reading. (I mean, truly reprehensible!) The people were tired of Edward's lectures on his angry God. Sarah came to the defense of her husband by writing a long letter to the church membership, but this mattered not. Edwards wore out his welcome.  It was 1750. The colonies were in a bad mood, and Edwards was voted out of his congregation and sent packing. 

He was relegated to a missionary of the Mohican Nation, where he preached the gospel and taught the people. He maintained good relations with the Indians and also defended their rights to their homeland. This was the time of the French and Indian War, where the Edwardses were very much on the frontline. 

UNFORTUNATELY...

There is much more to the story, but I will cut to the end of Jonathan and Sarah. In 1758, a smallpox epidemic was spreading, and Edwards decided to take a chance on the new inoculation. Jonathan and daughter Esther and her children were agreed to be part of the experiment. Unfortunately, they all contracted smallpox from the medical procedure, and Jonathan succumbed to the disease after all.

Sarah "tried to be prepared or any testing that life might require of her." She found ways to cling to and trust in God. While Esther suffered with the pox, Sarah wrote to her daughter about the loss of Mr. Edwards:

A holy and good God has covered us with a dark cloud. He has made me adore his goodness, that we had [Jonathan] so long. But my God lives; and he has my heart. O what a legacy my husband and your father has left us! We are given to God; and there I am and love to be. 

Two weeks later, Esther died.

Not long after, Sarah lost the will to live without her life partner and she died of a broken heart.

FINAL WORDS

While reading, I did not fully appreciate the scope of this work until I started to write a review. I left out so much information. There are several more chapters after Sarah's death covering the Edwardses' legacy, which continued for over a century and is amazing when you consider how much an individual and family can do to alter a nation. Even with their failings and blunders, they affected history, a nation and its people for good. If it wasn't for Pfizer the smallpox experiment, how much more would they have accomplished?

I only gave it three stars because I thought the writing could have been better. That was my only pet peeve.  

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Do you know someone suffering from Madame Bovary Syndrome?

Madame Bovary

Gustave Flaubert

published 1856

French classic novel

re-read WEM

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What is Madame Bovary Syndrome? It is a psychological condition named after the female protagonist in Madame Bovary. Philosopher Jules De Gaultier described it as a "chronic dissatisfaction with one's life." Another definition described it as a "shopping disorder." As to the behaviors displayed by Emma Bovary, both descriptions fit. 

But there is more: Madame Bovary syndrome involves escaping reality - a typical coping mechanism - through idealism of religion, memories, reading, music, dreams, passion, romantic love, shopping, and even living through the achievements of others (like one's spouse or child). 

This behavior was commonly present in nineteenth century novels, in which female protagonists suffered from an inability to achieve their coveted desires and were either driven to madness or suicide because there was no solution or a way out of the syndrome. In fact, I am reading Anna Karenina right now, and there are so many similarities to Madame Bovary. 

But, hold on...men are not entirely exempt from Madame Bovary Syndrome.

A short summary (with spoiler)

In the novel, Emma is a young country girl who was married off to a good, kind-hearted widower, Charles Bovary, who genuinely loved Emma very much. He is a mediocre doctor and not well off; also he is rather dull. Emma had expectations that marriage would bring excitement, but Charles was blah and Emma's life felt boring.

When Charles aided an elite patient, the gentleman invited Charles and Emma to his ball to show his gratitude, sort of. For the first time, Emma witnessed how the other half of society lived and imagined it was the world she had been destined, not the passion-less life she was living with Charles. Her disillusions pushed her into depression. Her caring husband thought a change of environment would improve her health, and they moved into town. 

Young Lady in a Boat - Tissot, 1870

Town was no better, but Emma befriended a young clerk, Leon, who shared her passions: music, poetry, art, love -- they had much in common. Leon wanted to pursue a relationship, but Emma restrained herself. She desperately sought assistance through the church, but the priest was useless. 

Emma grew possessive of Leon, eventually chasing him away; he left town to escape her obsessiveness. Needless to say, she was shattered. By this time, Emma and Charles had a daughter. Unfortunately, she neglected her, never truly bonding. (Emma had hoped for a boy because she believed only boys could achieve their dreams and live as they chose.) Unfortunately, like marriage, motherhood was unfulfilling.

But then...enter Rodolphe, a wealthy socialite who set his target on Emma and pursued her. It was not too difficult. He was a smooth talker, and she was hooked. The connection immediately developed into a physical affair, and he eventually became bored of Emma. Their steamy relationship heavily clouded her opinion of her husband and marriage; she disliked everything about Charles. She plotted to run away with Rodolphe, and he pretended to agree; but he left a Dear John letter instead and skipped out of town as quickly as he could. 

Naturally, Emma was devastated and became deeply depressed. To lift her spirits, Charles took Emma to the opera where they ran into...Leon! Charles was either oblivious to Emma's emotional and physical affairs or he encouraged them. He suggested she remain in Rouen to see the opera the following night. Instead she reignited her connection with Leon. For a long time, she lied to maintain their time together and lived like an unpaid prostitute. She also became obsessive and controlling. 

In addition to the affair, Emma's behavior had become more reckless, like a drug addict. She spent money on credit to buy frivolous things that she thought would bring her happiness and contentment. She plunged her husband into debt, with no way to pay it off unless she turned herself into a prostitute, as her lawyer had suggested. 

Since she could not pay off her financial debt -- nor would her unsuspecting husband be able to save her once he found out -- she decided death was the only way out. 

No more spoilers

Now, this may seem very one-sided, but it is not. The men in this story have their own issues. For one, while Charles was a good, kind man who did love Emma, he was quite ignorant of her needs and he did not understand her. Or he was too stupid to comprehend. In Scripture, a husband is supposed to know his wife in an understanding way. That means he needs to make time and an effort to figure her out, know her desires and feelings, and never quit until it is clear. 

Either he was truly blind about her affairs or he knew he was incompetent as Emma's husband and, therefore, encouraged her to maintain the illicit relationships because he could not make her happy. But probably it was the first idea. He was a LAZY husband who did not rise to the occasion to be a capable husband. While her affairs were forbidden, so too, he did not keep his vows. 

I do not want to get into how constricted Emma's life was because she was a 19th century woman. At one point she had a child, and that was not enough for her. She was still chasing what was not her reality. She was in the wrong, Charles was wrong; in fact, every character in Madame Bovary was wrong. 

Also, as I suggested, Madame Bovary syndrome is not just for women. Charles suffered from his own desire to escape reality. Before Emma, he had developed obsessions for pleasure. And maybe marrying Emma was also part of his seeking happiness through his attractive young wife. He couldn't wait to get rid of his late-wife's wedding bouquet to make room for Emma. Even after Emma's death, he developed interests in all pursuits Emma was interested, albeit too late. He also initially avoided reading the love letters from her lovers. He preferred to keep a particular image of Emma -- the ideal image he had created in his mind. 

Finally, there was another man who suffered from Madame Bovary syndrome before it had a name: Gustave Flaubert. Yep! According to the author, he was the inspiration for Emma, having experienced disillusions of life, love, romance, happiness, relationships, and the like. 

None of this is surprising to me, and I bet everyone experiences some disillusionment of life in some way or at some point. I know I have. A lot! True -- books, movies, music, idols, even pride, and self-importance can mislead us into false expectations. We create romantic illusions and passions which reality cannot compare, setting ourselves up for disappointment and failure. We falsely believe others have it better than us, and we covet their lives. 

The only remedy for MB syndrome

The only solution, the only remedy for Madame Bovary syndrome is the gospel. Yep!! Bottom line! There is no other reality cleanser better than knowing who Christ is and where you stand in relation to Him. There are no disillusions with Him. And most of all, our desires for something better stem from a missing relationship with Him. He fulfills that longing. 

Knowing where you came from, where you are going when you die, and that Jesus Christ died for you is a life changer. I always think about how a relationship with Christ would have changed the characters in the books I read. Surely, Charles would have been a present and attentive husband; Emma would have spared her marriage, her daughter, and her own life by finding contentment in her relationship in Christ, regardless how incompetent her husband was; Rodolphe and Leon would respected women; the priest would have been of better service to others; the pharmacist would have been an honest man, etc. 

Final parting words

This is an excellent novel, well written, never boring. Flaubert's characters are comical in a serious way, like caricatures. This may not be a plot many can relate, thankfully, but it certainly is a relatable issue. Flaubert used a woman as his example to demonstrate social inequalities (of his time), but what Emma Bovary suffered from is the human heart defect that both men and women experience even today when they pursue fleeting happiness in all the wrong people, places, and material things. Until they find the Truth, they will always end up disappointed and disillusioned in life. 

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The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder

The First Four Years

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Published 1971

Little House-athon

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FIRST, A PERSONAL LIFE REVIEW

This is my second attempt to catch up on all of my book reviews. There are four more left.

Life keeps giving me distractions.

First it was the start of a new school year...the next week I was not well for a time, and in between I dealt badly with relationship issues (I thought I'd have a breakdown!)...the following week my girls had four consecutive nights of exhausting dance rehearsals, followed by four long dance recitals on that weekend...

...then Nutcracker auditions and waiting anxiously for three days to see who got the part of Clara...(Sophia didn't)...last week I had an emotional meeting with a friend who I had not seen in 20 years...next, my computer broke and had to go to the shop for a week...$500!..and last Saturday a very dear friend passed away. She was 92 and like a grandma to me.

But today, my husband came home early from work to tell me...he was let go from his job. He has been the GM for a manufacturing company for six years, in which he had been an employee since 2000. The company was acquired by a larger company this year, and we had suspected this could happen; except he was assured by the new owner that he would still have a job and report to him on Day One. Well, Day One was Tuesday, and technically, my husband still had a job and did report to his new boss.

However, Wednesday was Day Two...

I am not panicking, yet. I know God knows everything before hand and is in control of all these events and particulars.

Interestingly, my husband and I have been discussing relocating to Texas because we are discontented with the direction of California. Basically, my husband and I agree we no longer feel safe to raise our children here. (Ironically, my parents moved my siblings and me to California, in 1982, because they no longer felt safe about raising us in Brooklyn! And now my husband and I want to leave California for the same reason.)

Well, it is only day one of this dilemma, and my husband and I will be doing a lot of praying and trusting God and figuring things out. Maybe this an opportunity for us to move our family to Texas. (Big Question Mark.) Just saying.

NOW, MY BOOK REVIEW

Here I attempt to write a book review of a simple book...

Laura hated farming "because a farm is such a hard place for a woman." Almanzo suggested that they give it a try for three years, and if it failed, he would "quit and do anything [she wanted him] to do."

I promise that at the end of three years we will quit farming if I have not made such a success that you are willing to keep on.

It was true, there were things Laura appreciated about farming: horses, freedom, and spacious prairies. There were other reasons, too, and hence, agreed to give it three years.

In the first year, a hailstorm destroyed their crops.

In the second year, they had Rose. A blessing.

In the third year, Almanzo and Laura got into the sheepherding business, which helped bring in income. But they also both became sick with diphtheria. Laura recovered, but Almanzo did not rest long enough to recuperate, and it caused a stroke. From then on he would need Laura's help hitching up the horses and doing other chores.

In the fourth year, the year of grace, they lost almost all of their ten acres of trees. They had to give up on the tree claim, which cost them more money if they wanted to keep the land. Laura also had a baby boy, but he only lived a few weeks. Finally, a fire destroyed their home, forcing them to move in with a neighbor, until Almanzo built them a new house.

Was farming a success?

That depended on how you looked at it. Year after year, they had suffered bad luck and faced numerous set backs, but anyone could have experienced a few years of unfortunate circumstances. At least they did well with livestock.

She was still a pioneer girl and she could understand Manly's love of the land through its appeal to herself. 

Oh well, Laura sighed, summing up her idea of the situation in a saying of her Ma's: We'll always be farmers, for what is bred in the bone will come out in the flesh. 

Married for God by Christopher Ash

Married for God

Christopher Ash

Published 2016 (2007 in UK)

Christian Theology

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5

Married for God is not another self-help book for married people.  Rather, it is a radical way to look at marriage.  It is the biblical approach to marriage.   

Marriage is not a man-made idea; God created marriage and it exists for Him and His purposes: procreation, faithfulness, and order.  

God created us male and female for a reason, and we are to use our "maleness and femaleness in joyful service of God in the government of His world."  God made woman to be "a helper rather than a companion."  In addition, the sight of the woman was a delight to Adam, which brought them together in the "shared purpose, intimacy with a common goal, and companionship in a task that stretche[d] beyond the boundaries of the couple themselves (what the author refers to as) . . . sex in the service of God."

God made men and women equally in His image, and entrusted them equally with the responsibility of governing His world.  Equal, but complementary.  

Couples may serve God by "bringing up children in the hope that they too will serve God."  This is how God populates his "garden" with "more gardeners to care for it."  There is a section on barrenness because some couples cannot have children.  God knows this, and He permits it, as painful as it is; but childless couples may still serve and honor God, which Ash discusses.

The Bible does not have a negative attitude toward sex.  Of course, couples should never have a high view of sex either - that would be idolatry.  Sex is not for our self-fulfillment.  But we should maintain a healthy view of sex with a "passionate heart of intimacy that overflows in blessing to others." Marriage is outward-looking.

Marriage is the example of God's relationship with Israel or Christ's relationship with the Church.  A wife submits to her husband as the Church submits to Christ, and a husband loves his wife as Christ loves His Church.  Submission is a free and willing response, not by coercion.  And the commandment (in Ephesians) to husbands is longer and more challenging because it is a sacrificial love that he would give himself up for his wife even to death.  

The shape of marriage for the husband is the shape of the cross.

God is a God of order: marriage is a safeguard against sexual chaos (or sexual immorality). Marriage is a public commitment or promise.  If you are not ready to make a public pronouncement of commitment to someone, then you are not ready for sex.  If you "feel" like you love someone, remember "feelings are an unreliable guide to love."

There are boundaries for marriage.  They include: 

• being from different families 
• one woman and one man
• voluntary union 
• public union
• begins with public consent, not consummation
• defined by pubic consent, not private emotion

There is a whole chapter on singleness.  Our first obligation is our obedience to God, and whether we are married or single, we can still serve Him.  In fact, marriage only complicates our focus on God. But whatever our condition, we are to remain content in our circumstances. The heart of marriage is faithfulness, or steadfast love.  

Faithful, steadfast love is the heart of marriage, for faithful, steadfast love is the heart of the universe.  The faithful, steadfast, passionate Lover God calls men and women to show faithful, steadfast, passionate love in their marriages.

Genesis teaches that husband and wife become one flesh, and Jesus says that means they are joined by God.  When couples divorce, "they tear apart something potentially beautiful made by God."

A Warning:

Marriage is a covenant to which God is witness.  This covenant is "a relationship that the parties involved have chosen, (unlike natural relationships of parent to child or brother to sister)."  This relationship comes with obligations, where each has made promises to the other and entered into commitments, where God is witness.  He holds each responsible to keep those promises made under His sanction.  If they break them, they are accountable to Him.

God takes marriage seriously.  He does so because the marriage covenant is an echo of the covenant He makes by His own marriage with His people.

Believe it or not, marriage does not exist to meet our personal needs.  Our first desire should be to have a marriage that serves God; and the key to a good marriage is one that pursues the honor of God. 

I would recommend this book to anyone - married, engaged, single, or those who teach marriage classes - anyone who is interested in having an insightful, deep, and right understanding of biblical marriage.  

The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder

The First Four Years

Laura Ingalls Wilder  

Published 1971 

 The Little House RAL

American Children's Lit

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Laura Ingalls Wilder died in 1957.  Afterward, her manuscript for The First Four Years was found, and it was decided by the publishing company and a close family friend to publish this final story of The Little House series.  It has an incomplete and melancholy feeling compared to the previous eight books, but my third read settled on an optimistic closure to Laura's stories.  

The First Four Years began a retelling of Laura's and Almanzo's wedding day, in 1885.  Laura expressed that she did not want to marry a farmer.  Proverbs must have been popular in those days because Manly, Laura's nickname for Almanzo, used them like Pa and Ma: "Everything is evened up in the end . . ."  He claimed, "Farmer's are independent," and he promised that if the farming failed after three years, he would quit and do whatever Laura wanted.  

Manly provided a ready-to-move-in home for Laura, and she "looked the place over with the pride of possession."  Often times, when Laura felt anxious about the finances or the farming or the trees not growing, she reminded herself not to worry; Manly didn't.  

Laura did not always agree with Almanzo.  For example, he lent every tool that a needy neighbor asked for, even knowing the borrower may never return it.  When Laura thought the same neighbor would ask for a hog to scald, Laura sarcastically thought she would give it to him if he asked because she knew Manly would have given it.  When a terrible hailstorm struck, Manly suggested they make ice cream.  Laura facetiously asked her visitor if she felt like celebrating, and the woman replied, "No!  I want to get home and see what happened there.  Ice cream would choke me." And later, Manly purchased a beautiful clock during a time when Laura was adding up doctor bills and costs for medicine.  She questioned his judgment, but he was not concerned.  

In their second year of marriage, Laura had a baby girl, Rose, whom she absolutely adored. Nonetheless, there was still plenty of concern about expenses.  Laura did not agree that they could afford a new stove, though she resigned that to be "Manly's business."  That's what I say, myself, when I disagree with my husband's purchases: "It's on him."   

At one point Almanzo and especially Laura were very sick with diphtheria.  Rose was spared and remained with Laura's mother.  But Almanzo suffered a stroke soon after because he overexerted himself before he was fully recovered.  Thereafter, Laura needed to help Manly with his work until he could use his hands again.  

Now there were more doctor bills, and those stupid trees weren't doing very well.  They needed more cultivation and babysitting.  Almanzo had to sell the homestead to a buyer, and he and Laura moved back to the tree claim.  Then they got into the sheepherding business.   Apparently, it was an election year and a Democrat was likely to win the White House.  "Mr. Whitehead, being a good Republican, was sure the country would be ruined.  The tariff would be taken off, and the wool and sheep would be worth nothing."  They sold Laura's colt to help buy 100 sheep, with cousin Peter, who shepherded the sheep on their property.   

In the fourth year of marriage - the year of grace, Laura called it - the crops were mostly failures.  The treacherous wind storms were a problem for the sheep, as they would roll over and over, unable to get up.  Then Laura found out she was pregnant again, which was never a pleasant time for her. Thankfully, a neighbor brought over a load of books for her to read, which was like medicine for her condition.

And now the four walls of the close, overheated house opened wide, and Laura wandered with brave knights and ladies fair beside the lakes and streams of Scotland or in castles and towers, in noble halls or lady's bower, all through the enchanting pages of Sir Walter Scott's novels.

She forgot to feel ill at the sight or smell of food, in her hurry to be done with the cooking and follow her thoughts back into the book. 

The grief of farm life continued, although she must not let her pride be a burden.  The trees were mostly lost, and Manly could not "prove-up"; he had to pre-empt the land.  Soon after, Laura delivered her baby boy, who died three weeks later.  She described the days that followed as "mercifully blurred."   Another day, a fire started in the kitchen of their claim shanty, which consumed their house and almost everything in it.  Laura felt like a failure.

Some pages back, Laura lamented how she hated farming.  During a time of weakness, she thought,
How could [I] ever keep up the daily work and still go through what was ahead.  There was so much to be done and only [myself] to do it.  [I] hate the farm and the stock and the smelly lambs, the cooking of food and the dirty dishes.  Oh, [I] hate it all, and especially the debts that must be paid whether [I] work or not.

Now after some painful suffering, and at the end of four years of farm life, Laura pondered:

It would be a fight to win out in this business of farming, but strangely she felt her spirit rising for the struggle.

The incurable optimism of the farmer who throws his seed on the ground every spring, betting it and his time against the elements, seemed inextricably to blend with the creed of her pioneer forefathers that 'it is better farther on' - only instead of farther on in space, it was farther on in time, over the horizon of the years ahead instead of the far horizon of the west.

She was still the pioneer girl and she could understand Manly's love of the land through its appeal to herself.

"Oh well," Laura sighed, summing up her idea of the situation in a saying of her Ma's: "Well always be farmers, for what is bred in the bone will come out in the flesh." 

I must admit that I literally was grieved for Laura and wanted her to return to her little girl days of times past - to return to the comforts and securities of home, with Ma and Pa; but Laura, being more mature and responsible than I was at 19, was proud to be the mistress of her own domain and optimistic about the future.  

This may be the end of The Little House series, but it is not the end of Laura's and Almanzo's story, that we know. She left journals and articles and letters beyond the first four years on that first farm in South Dakota.  My family and I visited their homes in Mansfield, Missouri.  Unfortunately, you cannot take pictures inside the homes, but it was wonderful and exciting.  If you ever are in the neighborhood, don't miss the opportunity to experience it.