When I Was In The First Grade In Cincinnati, ...

When I was in the first grade in Cincinnati, Ohio, we learned to draw and stay in the lines. My family could only afford the box of eight crayons. My eight crayons were big and fat and hard to keep in the lines. The girl that sat right in front of me had a big box of 64 Crayola Crayons. She had 8 times the selection I had for colors. Hers was skinny and if they dulled she could sharpen them.

As we draw there was a weekly prize for the best, she always beat me! I am a competitor and this hurt my feelings week in and week out, I LOST! I at first would asked her to borrow her flesh color for people, she would not loan her crayons to anyone because they might get dull. I knew there was a sharpener right in her box. I learned to rotate mine as I drew and keep the point sharp. At first all my people were embarrassed, red faced, I had no choice?

I thought, This is not fair, she can beat me, I don’t have a chance. One day, I decided I was going to get good enough that I would win.

I started learning how to get different shades out of one color. I practice hard to keep my coloring in the lines. I got better and better. I learned how to softly mix two colors and make a different color. I started winning some of the weekly contests, not all of them, she could beat me on some, but I started making a choice: quit crying that you only have 8 fat Crayons and she has 64.

I learned life is not fair, but do the best with what you have and God will help you.