WMWW: The Call

This week's topic: The Call.

When did you know that you were a Writer?

For me, it happened young, around five or six years old.

A great-aunt had died and had left a portion of her belongings to my mother. One of the things that made its way to our house after her funeral was an old Underwood Typewriter.

It sat in our basement storage room for a while before I discovered it one bored afternoon. No better treasure had I ever found before or since.

With permission, I toted it up to my bedroom and plunked it down on my desk. The old ribbon was still looped through the machine, one half red and one half black. My mom showed me how to roll in a piece of paper and how to push the keys down for the letters.

And my tiny imagination took flight.

I pecked out my first poem (a rhyming ditty about a Blue Jay that flew through the sky, looking for blueberry pie) on that machine. I also wrote my first short story on that old beast, a tale about a magical talking dog.

I think my parents were more thrilled with those first publications than I was; even then, the editor in me was bothered when I found out that I'd misspelled some words.

Now, as a parent myself, I can look back at those writings and appreciate them through a mother's eyes. Is there nothing more thrilling than seeing your child discover their talents and potential?

That old Underwood is gone now, donated when my parents moved many years ago. While it would be nice to have it as a talisman of sorts, I still know with dead certainty today the same fact I uncovered within myself almost thirty years ago:

I am a Writer.

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When did you know you were a Writer? I'd love to hear your story - drop a comment and share if you care!