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Putting the “To” Back into Today
It is never just a day.
It is October 21 where I am sitting, and I am thinking about a small word inside a familiar word.
Today.
What happens if we underline the first two letters?
To.
To suggests direction. We go to a place. We send a letter to a friend. We listen to someone. We try to be kind to one another. Cambridge’s grammar guide describes several of these uses: destination, direction, recipient, connection.[¹]
Even when we say “ten to six,” we can picture ourselves approaching something.
For this reflection, I see an arrow at the end of “to.” Something connects to something else. Someone reaches toward someone else. We are headed somewhere.
So let’s put the “to” back into today.
And while we are at it, there is a “to” in tomorrow, too. Write it the old way, “to-morrow,” and it almost underlines itself.
Today is connected to tomorrow. Both are connected to yesterday. Our days reach backward…
