It’s Scott’s birthday today and he asked if I would make him lemon meringue pie for his birthday cake. So, I wrote that down on my to-do list.

But, I could’s spell meringue.

Merrange? Merange? Mirange? Mareng?

I don’t know why spelling is so hard. I love words. I read and write daily – yet, still, I forget what comes first, i before e or the other way around?

I inherited your spelling DNA.

I tell my students this right away at the beginning of each semester. I ask who in the class is a good speller. A few students raise their hands. I let them know that whenever I’m writing on the board and I’m not sure of a word’s spelling, I’m looking at them for verification and help. Knowing our challenges and just letting people know right up front gives one a bit of freedom.

I remember when Scott used to work for you on the farm and you’d write him a check for his pay and instead of writing Scott on the check, you’d write “Scoot”. On the two letters I have saved from you, I notice that every word you are not sure of the spelling, you just let it go, but are sure to write “sp” above it – so we know that you know it’s not right, but it’s okay to write it that way anyway.

Sometimes, the word was actually spelled right and you thought it was wrong. (scratching head here) Either way, it didn’t stop you from writing the letters. I love to think about that. How we should not let not knowing stop us from doing things.

I’m not sure my spelling will improve – thank goodness for spell check.

Otherwise, I’d just be writing sp above all my words, too. The blessing is, I smile when I misspell words now, because I know I got that from you . . . so it makes me pause and think of you.

All the correct spellings? That’s Mom. 🙂