When I worked an online puzzle recently, I recognized the answer as my first pun. I was about seven years old and would not know what a pun was for 12 more years. Even then, I didn’t connect the dots and recognize this misuse of a word as a play on words.

I was in the car with my mother, sitting at a parking meter in front of Harlan’s, a forerunner of a dime store. I had no shame and was singing aloud. “My country, tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.”

I stopped and said to her, “That’s my favorite song.”

She wondered what I liked about it.

“It has ICING in it!”

Yes, I was actually singing “of the icing”.

I don’t know that Mother ever understood what I meant. I adored icing. I would do anything for icing. I am still addicted to icing. A smile will always be on my face whenever I sing “My Country, ’tis of Thee” because I will substitute ICING for I sing.