Now I'm a scribbler.

I was born to write. Because I’ve always wanted to give my side of the story. My thinking. My opinion. And the natural way to do that was to learn to write. On paper. In black and white. For me, the written word was more important than the spoken word. Writing taught me to capture meaning. To actually see my thoughts. In a way that allowed me to edit. To revise. To expand. I was fascinated by looking at my handwriting. To see my thought take shape. Little wonder, that as an up and coming sixth grader, I got ‘A’ in penmanship. I tried to make my words look and feel beautiful and elegant.  Right there. In front of me. Something that I could read over and over. And admire. Of course, not everything I wrote was admirable. But still, it looked admirable. On paper. Now I don’t have to be concerned about penmanship anymore. I peck away on a computer keyboard. A wonderful invention.  Allowing me to write and write and write. Without a traditional pen or pencil. A blessing, indeed. Truth be told. My once near-perfect handwriting has declined. Into scribble.  --Jim Broede