How wonderful that in the middle of August’s dog days we find a spark of fun! School supplies are on sale.
I remember shopping at TG&Y with Mom, imagining what the new school year might bring. Would this be the year she would buy the box of 64 crayons with the sharpener on the back?
Alas – it never happened in elementary school. Many years later, one of my friends treated me to the coveted 64.
Every year, shopping for school supplies represented a new take on hope.
It was akin to the cleaning of the chalkboard – the chance to start over, to learn more facts, read more books.
The energy of a new year felt as fresh as the package of #2 yellow pencils. Would my teacher like me? Would I be chosen to pass out the Weekly Readers on Fridays?
Even into high school and college, the hunt for the perfect pens, the best paper and the sturdiest notebooks required research of the ads. We clipped coupons and drove all over town for the best bargains.
As a single mom, it was difficult to save the money required for school supplies. The year Caleb needed an electronic calculator completely tanked my budget.
But even then, we shared the excitement of a new year and the possibility of meeting new goals. We shopped at K-Mart, then celebrated with pizza and Pepsi.
Now as a writer, school supplies birth new journals, gel pens and legal pads for first drafts such as this blog post.
I wait until late in August when the kids have already chosen their supplies. Then I dig through the discarded piles to find my treasures.
All year, school supplies bring excitement – waiting in my stash for the day I need a new journal, a fresh pen.
And every time I open a new package of gel pens, I revisit the years when school supplies meant a new start.
Hope implies a beginning again, fresh grace – the forgetting of what has been and the reaching toward new growth.
Whether it’s in a classroom or the quiet office of an introverted writer, we all need the promise of hope.
Here’s to those pens and papers that invite us to believe again.
©2017 RJ Thesman – All Rights Reserved
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fabulous as always. Loved fresh crayons 🙂
Me, too ! Thanks, Bea !
This blog really resonates with me. I still love looking at/buying school supplies. This is a wonderful season to get things for Christmas Child shoe boxes with Samaritan Purse. And oh yes, the desire for a box of 64 crayons. I was fortunate to get box of eight or sixteen. But as an adult I treated myself with the box of 64 crayons. It was always a pleasure to begin a new school year with new crayons, pencils, and a Big Chief Tablet. Today when people talk about their tablet, I always think of my Big Chief Tablet.
Great idea, Elfrieda – to buy the supplies now for Samaritan’s Purse. Some day … let’s get together and color !
Fresh grace and new growth always brings me joy! Here’s to a great school year for all! Please God, make it so.
I have always loved the beginning of school and new school supplies! Especially when I was a teacher! The smell of freshly sharpened pencils and crayons always did my heart good. Now, I’m too used to writing on a computer. I do have a stack of journals that I use for personal journaling, but my writer’s writing is all computer. This school year brings me new hope with my writing instead of the dread of not being a teacher like I used to be. The feeling I usually get this time of year is replaced with a hope anew. Thank you for the reminder Rebecca.
I’m so glad you’re finding that “new hope” in your writing, Susan! As a former teacher, I still occasionally want to put together a bulletin board. Old habits die hard !
Amen! I agree.
My attraction to the texture and even fragrance of Weekly Readers should have been a hint that my future might could include writing. A good ‘memory lane.
Yes….I looked forward to Fridays every week when we were handed the WR. Good memory indeed!
This schooling class brings me young Hope with my written material instead of the apprehensiveness of not being a teacher like I used to be. It was always a joy to lead off a young schooling class with young crayons, pencils, and a Big Chief Tablet.
I agree. There’s nothing like the smell of new crayons to bring hope for a new school year!