Nathaniel Hawthorne worked at the customs house in Boston, MA. When there was a change in management there, he lost his job. He went home dejected and almost desperate. He was worried about his family and, in particular, how his wife would take the bad news.
Instead of reproaching him when she found out, his wife put a pen and ink on the table before him. She lit the fireplace and put her arms lovingly around his shoulders. "Now you will be able to write your book," she said. Hawthorne, reassured by his wife's words and actions, set about writing his novel, The Scarlet Letter, which would prove to be the first step in a famous writing career.
It is sweet, gentle, soft, understanding, accepting, trusting, supportive, and kind.
=*)
