Love and Pencils: My Favorite Valentine's Day Memory

                                           

 Dear Readers,

Welcome to our Pen Dames Contest: It’s simple. Leave a comment on this blog and be in the running for 5 books by 5 amazing authors. One winner-5 books plus one audiobook from me: Mercy of the Moon and Heartbeat of the Moon. You can leave a comment on our Facebook posts and be eligible for five books from five amazing authors. Hours of enjoyment, folks. Here’s the topic: share a memory from a past Valentine’s Day. It can be from your childhood, your past or present.  Here's my story:

 My favorite Valentine's Day gift in almost 43 years of marriage was not flowers, chocolate, or jewelry. It was a gift that truly demonstrated how well my husband knows me. One morning, I dragged myself into my office to get some word count in before we celebrated our special day. A pile of pencils lay on my desk. They weren’t just pencils; they were the scented kind called

Smencils. I’d never seen them before, but my heart started beating rapidly, you know, the kind of heartbeat when you see a chocolate cake, or a pile of books you forgot you had. I sharpened one and breathed in the delightful aroma of strawberry. And the lead was nice and dark, just the way I like it.

 This gift is even more significant because my husband hates pencils. He’d been poked with one in grade school and even has a scar on his palm to prove it. One of our rare arguments has centered on me leaving pencil erasures on his desk. To which I could only counter: “How nice it is that you never make mistakes with a pen. Pencils are forgiving and they help me think.” Although I respect his desire for a clean desk, sometimes I put a pile of pencils on his desk just to torture him.

 I treasured those Smencils. Pencils aren’t just a stick of lead to me. They relax me and allow me the permission to make mistakes. They represent my hopes and dreams of being an author and give me a sense of freedom as I gather new plot and character ideas and document my daily journey of life and writing. Without pencils, I don’t believe I would have reached the goal of publication.

Flowers are a wonderful gift, but those sticks of lead touched my heart more than I can say, because my love knows me so well.

 Happy Valentine’s Day, Rubber Band Man!