Work Out - Strength

By Nancy Leasman

Strength is a common consideration whether you’re being checked by your health provider, eyeing a box that needs lifting, or cutting and loading wood. How much strength do your legs have as it pertains to moving from a sitting to a standing position, walking, and climbing stairs? What is your core strength, those muscles of the abdomen, back and pelvis that determine your posture and ability to maintain different positions? Arm strength is useful for those times when someone challenges you to arm wrestling, however infrequent that might be. But, more so, arm strength is important in carrying groceries, grandchildren, and furry friends.

So, we know all about the importance of adequate strength when it comes to activities of daily living. And, I must point out, that in the six times that I’ve used the word strength, so far, I’ve spelled it correctly each time. What I learned recently about strength is that it is a frequently misspelled word. And why was I looking up how to spell strength? It wasn’t for this piece of writing. There’s a bit longer story on that.

A friend has been cleaning out her house in which she’s lived for nearly 40 years. Two of the many interesting objects within her collection of interesting objects were hand-stitched samplers, one of which was dated 1850. Executed with tiny cross-stitches on linen, both samplers were made by distant relatives of my friend. Both women were related to the founder of a Minnesota university. My friend wanted these samplers to go to some institution that would appreciate them and had contacted this university. The librarian at the university was interested in acquiring the samplers and it just happens that my granddaughter attends that university.

I had temporary custody of the samplers before giving them to my courier granddaughter. It’s in my nature to read everything that comes before my eyes.

One sampler, stitched with a border of blue and green stylized ivy, was a list of nine aphorisms, proverbs, and pearls of wisdom including: “He that winketh with the eye causeth sorrow,” and “It is better to dwell in a corner of the house-top than with a brawling woman in a wide house.”

The other sampler, also bordered with a classic simple floral pattern, had two parts. The top portion was titled, “A Mother’s Love.” The lower section was “Miscellaneous Sentences.” The first of the miscellaneous sentences was this: “A righteous man is one who takes the word of God for his rule, the grace of God for his strenght,, the spirit of God for his guide, and the heaven of God for his home.”

The spelling of strength immediately jumped out at me. I wondered if I had been spelling it wrong or if the spelling had evolved in the 175 years since the piece was made. I also wondered how the word was pronounced in the 19th century and what the accent was of the person who stitched it. Of course I did an online search and I found that I’ve been spelling the word correctly. The sampler held an antique error, though a historically common one.

I neglected to pass on the finding of the error. Will the university librarian notice it? Does it matter?