{"id":51511,"date":"2026-07-03T07:35:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T11:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/?p=51511"},"modified":"2026-06-30T15:36:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T19:36:14","slug":"a-spelling-bee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/a-spelling-bee\/","title":{"rendered":"A Spelling Bee"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dotting My Teas By: Marlene Oxender <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Years ago my brother Stevie, who had Down syndrome, spent a holiday weekend with us at my daughter\u2019s house. After lunch, those seated at the dining room table were welcome to play a word game that Stevie had obviously made up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He stood at the head of the table so he could be in charge. He would point at one of us and ask what letter was in the word he was thinking of. He would give us a quick \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno\u201d before he moved on to the next person.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you can imagine, we were laughing. There were moments when we became loud and rowdy, but he kept his composure. It was his version of the Wheel of Fortune game, and he was the host. We had to remember what letters were in his imaginary words, for he was not writing them down for us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the ladies blurted out, \u201cIndependence Day\u201d as her answer, and Stevie let her know she was correct. The laughter he\u2019d brought to the table was the only prize needed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Years ago, Stevie received an award for his abilities with sign language \u2013 a subject in which he was proficient. The cover photo on the book I wrote about him is an image of him making the love sign with his hand during a basketball game. The photographer, Glyn Buntain, caught that moment in time for the rest of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Love is an easy word to spell but not so easy to define. The complicated part is how love can be found in everything \u2013 our thoughts and our words. Our actions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Stevie was out and about on his bicycle, and a semi-truck was rolling through town, he used sign language to tell the driver he\u2019d like to hear the truck horn. And the world always responded in the kindest of ways. Life doesn\u2019t get much better than that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Glyn once wrote on Stevie\u2019s Facebook page: \u201cDear God, in this new year, put Stevie\u2019s heart of joy and pure love in each one of us.\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stevie\u2019s love for life and the things of this earth was inspiring. He knew the value of his trophies and ribbons. He perfected his singing voice from the steps of his front porch while waiting for his ride to work each morning. He traveled on his bicycle to ballgames and spent time at restaurants where he could be with others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Stevie signed a greeting card, he wrote the word \u201cLove\u201d in front of his name. Such a simple thing \u2013 a little ink and a few letters lined up just right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m still playing word games with Stevie \u2013 long after he passed away. I\u2019m learning to connect the dots and speak this language that\u2019s been here all along \u2013 I just needed to be aware of it.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stevie\u2019s life showed us, in part, that we are here to enjoy the things of this earth. We\u2019re here to play games \u2013 even through the loudness and rowdiness. Even when our friends can\u2019t spell the imaginary words we\u2019ve made up. We\u2019re here to live with \u201ca heart of joy and pure love\u201d for one another. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marlene Oxender is a writer, speaker, and author. She writes about growing up in the small town of Edgerton, her ten siblings, the memorabilia in her parents\u2019 estate, and her late younger brother, Stevie Kimpel, who was born with Down syndrome. Her three published books, Picket Fences, Stevie and Grandma, You Already Am Old, are available on Amazon. Marlene can be reached at mpoxender@gmail.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dotting My Teas By: Marlene Oxender  Years ago my brother Stevie, who had Down syndrome, spent a holiday weekend with<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":48102,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[25],"tags":[29346,24903,26030,24905,25176,25177],"class_list":["post-51511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns","tag-a-spelling-bee","tag-dotting-my-teas","tag-grandma-you-already-am-old","tag-marlene-oxender","tag-picket-fences","tag-stevie"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t