It's almost a new year.

We will have a new President, and a new sense of possibilities. Hopes should be running very high on this bright and clear morning.

Yet at the same time, we live in a time of uncertainty, of worry about the economy, and we read news articles every day about people losing their jobs and companies asking for bailouts.

It's an uncertain time, and in times like these, many families turn towards what is comforting.

They turn towards the things that really matter. And, when we think of it, those "things" really are never "things."

They are family, friends, good memories. And yes, these are all things we can do with less money.

Many people are now talking about doing more with less - less eating out, less big expenditures.

And that's why it has been such amazing timing to be involved with our local teen production of "Little Women," a story that talks so wonderfully of simpler times, and a family that did more with less.

For a century, Louisa May Alcott's book has provided warmth and comfort and endless appeal millions of families, especially girls. With that knowledge, the organizers of a brand new theatre group in my community have put together a musical production of "Little Women." And given the age we are living in, the timeless story holds even more appeal.

I always loved Little Women.

In fact, my friends did, too. We talked about which of the main characters we most related to.

Was it Meg, with her sense of honor and duty, but also her yearning to be accepted and socially included? Was it little Amy, who I remember viewing with great disdain, such a little brat earlier in the book but one who you feel a certain empathy for later on?

Was it Beth, the wonderful character whose fate made many a girl cry? Or was it Jo, a tomboy with fire, imagination and humor, who approached life as a young feminist before her time?

I loved Jo, of course, as many other girls did. We loved how she was unconventional, and my favorite part of the book was when Jo first met her neighbor Laurie, seeing the feeling of kinship between the two of them.

I was touched and excited when my daughter, Emma, auditioned was cast as Jo in this new production last summer. She has been working hard since August to become my favorite March girl.

The music for the show is wonderful, especially a song that Jo and Beth sing together (my favorite moment).

As we approach the show dates, I find myself thinking again and again of the story of Little Women.

It happens during the Civil War. The girls' father goes away and is injured.

They are happy to have a single gift each for their Christmas presents. And, on Christmas, they give their meal away to a starving family.

These girls find joy in simply being with their mother, reading a letter from their father, making plays and skits together.

The book is about the warmth of family and how it sustains us, and about how traditions matter. It is about how we can survive anything if we are with those we love. And, more than anything to me, it is about the love between sisters.

I look forward to looking around me in the audience at young girls, watching the stage and listening to the words and music, learning once again about this timeless story, and learning about the appeal of Little Women.

These are indeed uncertain times, and many people are worried about the economy.

But it may help to think of the words of Marmee (indisputably the best mother of literature, in my opinion):

"Money is a needful and precious thing, and when well used, a noble thing, but I never want you to think it is the first or only prize to strive for. I'd rather see you poor men's wives, if you were happy, beloved, contented, than queens on thrones, without self-respect and peace."

Lauri Hennessey has written her column about parenting and children for a decade, and it now runs in a number of Robinson papers. She runs her own public relations business, and raises three children on Vashon Island. You can reach her at lauri@hennesseypr.com