My mother was an accomplished poet and writer. She acquired this gift from her own father, Roderick Watson Kerr, who was a published war poet and editor of the Edinburgh newspaper, as well as gifted pianist. I always remember my mother having a notebook by her bedside so that she could wake up and capture the dreams that she had had, or note down phrases of inspiration that may or may not be used at a later date. She loved words and she loved language... she would revel in words and let them roll off her tongue and pierce her heart with their power. It was a Power that had to be well-used and she was a great stickler for proper grammar... On one hand, she was very "by the book", imparting on us the importance of proper punctuation, capitalization and spelling. She was bound and determined to raise us with "proper spelling" (her words... ie. the British way!!) and to this very day I teach my students about the difference between the noun "practice" and the verb "practise" for example. It is a lost art, swallowed up in the modern day line of least resistance (how many people have even heard of the difference?!), but that never bothered my mother. She stood up for what she held high in esteem, fought for it vehemently and passed the gems on to anyone who would listen to her!!! I know you're reading this, dying to know this unheard of gem (haha)... if you need the verb, then think of action and particularly the action of a wiggly snake sliding its way across the ground (hence, "practise" with an "s" just like a wiggly snake for the action verb... the noun, the thing that you attend, as in a soccer practice, is spelled with the "c"!!! As I said, it's a long lost distinction that has evolved out of most people's lexicon!!!) Another delightful grammar kink that we grew up with was the absolute rule never to split an infinitive (for example: correct= to sing joyfully.... incorrect= to joyfully sing). As soon as we younger generation dared to split an infinitive within earshot, she would make a most dramatic face and let a contorted "ugh," as if the very fibre of her Being had been violated. Even to this day, when I am about to let out a sentence that contains the Cardinal Mummy Sin of splitting an infinitive, I find myself pausing, not quite able to bring myself to verbalise it (despite thinking it!!) and then correcting myself before uttering it out loud!! The ultimate grammar memory I have came when we were all sitting downstairs at Bicknell Crescent on a Sunday evening watching a Wayne and Shuster television special. They were doing a spoof on Star Trek (that dates it, doesn't it?!). The opening screenshot showed the USS Enterprise, with the voice in the background announcing the very familiar words: "Space... The final frontier... To boldly go where no man has gone before... (at which point Mummy started her infamous face contortions and elongated "ugh" only to be interrupted by Wayne and Shuster's next line... "TO SPLIT AN INFINITIVE!!!!" ) There was a jubilant uproar and cheer that exploded from my mother's mouth and triumphant clapping and cheering that someone would be on the same grammatical wavelength (and wicked sense of humour!) as her legendary one-person campaign!!!!!!!!! I will never, ever forget that moment... It is who she was, and has shaped who we have become as a result!! Long live Joan the grammatician!