11 May—An anonymous admirer, evidently with some connection to animal cruelty (i.e., to horses, hounds, foxes, and adventitious prey), put this greeting card under my car’s windshield wiper while I was trying to find something worth the price at the Litchfield Stop & Shop yesterday.

While “mother-half” was a seldom used Middle English word for what we now simply call a mother (sort of like “better half” meaning spouse, usually wife), I must admit that I’d never heard of “mother-half-a-word” nor Mother-Half-A-Word’s Day. Nor indeed have I been able to find any mention of either on the internet. So, sadly, I have no idea what “mother-half-a-word” means.

But I shouldn’t be surprised to see Mother-Half-A-Word’s Day designated as a national holiday by Donald Trump, just as Woodrow Wilson designated Mother’s Day in 1914.

In all events, I appreciate the card and the sentiment and look forward to celebrating many more Mother-Half-A-Word’s Days . . .