Tools of the Trade

Bought my 14-year-old nephew a fountain pen yesterday. He's writing a book, but he won't let me see it. I figured that we writers need to stick together and he needs a good tool to write with, so there it is, a student Lamy pen.

I think adults often forget the impact of small acts of confidence and small encouragements like that. I should try to remember too. When I was about eight years old, my aunt, who was teaching elementary school, asked me to do a drawing. I did a picnic with all the food and dishes laid out very neatly, and I labeled it "Picknick."

She praised the drawing and pointed out that my misspelling made sense. After all, "pick" is a word, and so is "nick." Somehow I remember that fondly all these years later.