The Pen is Mightier

When I was young, I always knew how important something was by what pen my mother used to sign her name.  If it was a permission slip for school, any bic lying around would do.  But when she signed something important, she pulled a red leather sleeve from her purse.  Out of that sleeve came the most beautiful gold Cross pen.  This was important, this signature meant something, it needed the appropriate pen.

When I graduated high school, I had a diploma, wore a cap and gown, and celebrated with friends.  But when my mother gave me my own gold Cross pen, I knew my life had changed.  I was an adult, my signature meant something, I needed the appropriate pen.  When I graduated from college, she gave me another gold Cross pen.  Then I knew: I was on my own, I was making decisions for my life, I had to know when to use the appropriate pen.

* * *

After the first attempt at buying an apartment fell through, Lynn and I took some time off.  But before long, we knew we had to get back on the horse and start looking at apartments again.  So we hit the open house circuit and checked out some new possibilities.  One was fantastic.  It's in a new building, so everything is brand new.  There are two bathrooms (this becomes important when you're married), great kitchen appliances, and even a washer and dryer.  There's a roof deck with views on Manhattan, and the elevator goes all the way up for those of us who are too lazy to take stairs.  It's a great apartment.  And the most surprising part was that it is far more affordable than many of the other, older, apartments we've looked at.

We moved quickly, and made an offer.  It was accepted that same day.  Oh boy, I thought, here we are again with an accepted offer and needing to get to the contract phase.  This time, though, things went smoothly.  All the paperwork checked out and things were looking good.  Our lawyer worked out the contract with the seller's lawyer, and in just a few days we were set.

I brought the contract home from our lawyer's office so Lynn and I could sign it together.  We each signed with a gold Cross pen.