When I was in Seventh Grade, I had a dog that I loved. She was a fawn-colored boxer named Fawn. You know how certain dogs have a favorite person. Well, I was Fawn’s favorite person. That year I decided that I wanted to be a veterinarian. It was also the year that I began to learn the power of words.
There was an essay contest for all Seventh Graders. A winner would be chosen from each class. In my school, there were two Seventh Grades. We had to write an essay about our pet or about pet care. The winners would be honored at a special dinner put on by the Chamber of Commerce. They would also get to attend a Dog Show that would be held in our city.
I wanted to go to the Dog Show very much so I worked hard to write the best story I could. I wrote from my heart and told what a difference a dog could make in a person’s life and how my life was better because I had Fawn. I was the winner from my class and the winner from the other seventh Grade was just about the most handsome and kindest boy in the school.
The dinner was great. It was my first time to have a swordfish steak. I received a special certificate and my free tickets to the Dog Show. That was something I will never forget.
From then on, I put more effort into my writing. When I got to high school, I joined the staff of the school newspaper. I loved writing and joined the staff of my college newspaper, too. As a teacher, I enjoyed writing stories and songs for my children at school. As a parent, I wrote stories about my own children.
Now that I’m retired and babysitting for my grandchildren, I’m sometimes too busy or tired to write. But all I have to do is see a new pad of paper and a pen or pencil beside it. The tiredness disappears and I’m ready to write!!!!
I write in order to hear what I am thinking and feeling. I have been writing since my early teens—mostly little essays and an occasional poem. The earliest ones seem odd to me now, either so very “young” or so very “old.” In some ways I am younger now than I was then, I think.
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