It will soon be fifty one years since I loaded up my old station wagon with my brother, his friend and their possessions and moved them to Central Missouri State College* in Warrensburg, MO.
At the time I assumed he would make his way back home to Iowa, at least I hoped so.
But his life choices saw him becoming a Missourian for another 40+ years until moving and becoming a Kansan. This has translated to not seeing him in person as often as I thought we would. And even less often after our parents died and we ourselves aged.
Oh, boy, are we aging. Les, on the left, is still the baby and always will be - 10 years younger than me. Between us is his wife Susan, then my older brother Ron - 3-1/2 years older than me - and his wife, Marge.
It was a short visit, but very nice to be together again.
Now, that word of the day from the online Merriam-Webster dictionary - filch. As soon as I saw it I thought of my brother Ron because he was the first person I remember ever using the word - though I do not recall the context.
Quoting M-W: "To filch something is to secretly or casually steal it. The word filch also usually, but not always, implies that what has been stolen is small or of little monetary value." As in: "My brother saw me filch a cookie from the cookie jar."
So why not just say steal? Because, also according to M-W: "There's often a distinct twang of humor or mischievousness in filch that's not inherent in steal, and that reflects a casualness or nonchalance on the part of the one doing the snatching."
If my memory banks serve, the term filch was used often during the years I was in highschool. "Did you filch my pen?" sounded much less accusatory than asking someone if they stole your pen.
Or maybe in those days we were just more polite?
(* Now known as University of Central Missouri.)
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