Mother liked to listen in on people conversations whenever our people had company. Mother also went to Sunday school with the children, and she learned a lot of big words there. She would repeat words to herself, over and over. She would carry them around in her head like precious jewels. Then, when there was a big dog gathering, she would surprise everyone with a new big world. The dogs who knew her were proud of her vocabulary. The ones who didn’t know her were always surprised by her big words. It made them feel small and embarrassed that they didn’t understand what she said. When they asked her what the big words meant, she always had an answer