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My Mom, the sweetest Christian lady I ever met, always had a very practical view of raising children. She taught by example, simply doing
what she knew was right and good, and trusting that it would rub off on her children.
On the hazy summer evenings of our childhood, she’d take us out onto the front porch of our old farmhouse to “ooh” and “ah” at the
spectacle of lightning storms. It wasn’t until I was in my 30’s that I discovered she was terrified of thunder and lightning.
Though only a high school graduate, my mother had an abiding love of words. She was an avid reader, a whiz at crosswords, and played
Scrabble® at the drop of a vowel.
By the time we were in high school, she was ready and willing to play Scrabble® 
in the most competitive sense—and my brother, Frank, and I were her most eager opponents.
Over time it became clear that Mom’s greatest pleasure came not from winning, but from playing a particularly clever word, or finding a
creative way to use all seven of her tiles. Her real opponent was herself, and she loved a well-played turn more than a high score.
Sometimes our games became a hunt for unusual words, or a challenge to create multiple connections—sometimes stretching into the wee
hours of the morning. A well-played turn always drew praise and often became a topic of dinnertime conversation.
Except for one summer when the television died and Canasta
became an evening ritual, we never had an organized game night. But our Scrabble®
set was well used nonetheless. College breaks, snow days and holiday weekends usually included a good game or two. And as the
kids’ language skills began to approach Mom’s, the dictionary made frequent appearances at our Scrabble® marathons.
I don’t remember Mom putting any particular emphasis on language, other than helping with grammar school vocabulary lists. Of course,
she’d always praise a well-written school paper… but it was mostly our eager Scrabble® partner who taught us to love words.
Frank, by far her strongest competitor, went on to study linguistics at the graduate level, has mastered Portuguese ,
and works as a writer and editor for a university program. And I have also pursued a writing career, crafting newspaper feature articles
and columns for several years, and now working as a freelancer.
I’m don’t believe Mom intentionally used Scrabble® as a way to guide her children to careers revolving around words. I believe she
simply saw Scrabble® as a way to share something we both loved… and as a way to spend time with her children.
Of course, I could be wrong. There is the lightning thing...
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About The Author:
Malcolm G. Smith is a former newspaper writer and photographer now working as a freelance copywriter. He provides promotional
and editorial copy for advertisers, direct marketers and non-profit organizations. Malcolm can be reached via his website,
MalcolmGSmith.com
* This article is available for your publication, for a F-E-E.
This article may NOT be reprinted without monetary compensation and written permission from the author.
For reprint rights or comments/questions about this article, please contact the author.
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