Harriet Beecher Stowe was a woman that not only do I admire her for her outspoken boldness, but also because we have so much in common. She lived in a different time than me, but I think we could have been good friends! She lived 1811-1896 and was born in Litchfield, Connecticut. She moved from there to Maine and then back to Hartford ,Connecticut. Not that it's important right now, but just so you know, I was born in Hartford, Connecticut. Harriet was neighbors with another famous guy, Mark Twain. How many of you have been in both of their houses? Every year of elementary school I went on a field trip to the Harriet Beecher Stowe House and The Mark Twain House. I was never thrilled to go...thought it was kind of boring since we had been there so many times, but now I kind of would like to go one more time, because I'm really interested. Well, back to Harriet...women in that time period were not allowed to talk freely in public or to voice opinions or to cast a vote. Ugh! I would have had a rough time! I have to speak up and take action when needed! That's what she was like only she had to put it all on paper. She hated what was happening in the country with the slavery issues and women's issues. She wanted her voice to be heard. She loved to write; another thing we have in common. She had seven kids, but one of her babies died at 18 months old. She was so upset at the loss of her son that she said it inspired her to write Uncle Tom's Cabin which became a very famous anti-slavery book. She said she could sympathize with the mothers who had their children just taken from them to be sold. I know that pain along with Harriet and many of my friends know this same pain as well, but Harriet used her pain to write a book that would help make a change in the slavery issue.She wrote many books and continued her writing for about 50 years! She also helped to form the Hartford Art School which was later, the University of Hartford. I love one of her quotes:
"The past the present and the future are really one; they are today"~
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Really that is the truth, we can't do much about the past for it is gone forever so why dwell on it? We don't know if we will have tomorrow so why worry about it? All I have is today! It again is a new day and it is up to me to make the most of it. I hate hearing people talk about the "good old days", saying, "those were the good old days", as if they are all gone by!...These ARE the "good old days" right now!
"This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in IT."
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