From the Age of Innocence........A Lesson of Endurance

From the Age of Innocence..........A Lesson of Endurance

Page after page of Aa Bb Cc on triple lined extra wide penmanship paper, blisters bulging from the death grip of little fingers around an extra thick lead pencil, touted as "your first pencil!"  No eraser, larger circumference than upper grade pencils, considered a "miracle pencil" although not particularly user friendly, first graders endured the grueling task of learning, producing and reproducing the alphabet until the teacher deemed it either perfect or perhaps sufficient torture had been endured.  Allowed to take our "school work" home, it adorned the front of the refrigerator until either the next letter was learned or the wrinkled document mysteriously disappeared.

Having an older sibling, definitely benefited my learning.  What she practiced at home, I mimicked.  If she wrote, I wrote, if she read...I attempted and yes, it was beneficial until it was required learning.  Perhaps boredom wasn't as bad as it seemed, class room windows large and in warmer weather, opened, allowing springtime freshness to permeate the air.  A great atmosphere for afternoon daydreaming much to the annoyance of the teacher.

As the school years progressed, movement into the next grade level, penmanship still an important part of the learning plan, cursive much more exciting and expressive than plain old block print.  Large, three lined writing paper, now passé, eraser topped slim lined pencils made those curly lined letters so much easier, one could express themselves so much more, much to the chagrin of the educator walking the aisle between desks, pointer in hand as if a fine arts class was in session. Unfortunately my cursive interpretation of the letter "A" bore no resemblance to the example on the blackboard.

Looking back, perhaps these teachings were necessary. Some say your signature is indicative of your personality, we won't go there.  It was also said messy handwriting belonged to doctors, I must be an exception.  If this be true, pharmacists are brilliant, although mistakes do happen; they tell you what the pill should look like, just in case.

Cursive may soon be a thing of the past, news ways to express oneself will always evolve. With technology moving forward at lightening speed, a mere point and click, perfect penmanship every time, Totally embracing all technology, with no ill-feelings of what I had to endure eons ago, the only possible conclusion is, "I was born at least a half century too early!"