Couldn’t Spell It Out Any Clearer

(As a toddler, my baby brother was obsessed with West Virginia. (Barring reincarnation, we never could figure out why.) When he was about four and I was seventeen, he decided to make a sign for his for about it.)

Brother: “Daddy, how do you spell Virginia?”

Stepdad: “V-I-R-G-I-N—” *looks straight at me* “—that’s a good thing to stay for a while, I-A.”

Brother: “Thanks Daddy!”

Me: “Yeah, thanks for the… spelling.”