I have my father's fountain pen that he used to pay bills with and write letters with when he was a young man. He always used blue ink not black. I used to use it to do my homework in the sixth grade. I loved the way it wrote so smoothly on my lined school girl paper...I loved to lift the lever on the side and stick the nib in the bottle and draw in the ink to fill the pen. It is black with a gold cap and the nib is 14k gold. I don't know how or where he got it. Was it a graduation present from high school...or a gift he bought himself as a adult? He kept it in the bottom drawer of the buffet in the dining room and he'd sit at the dining table to do his record keeping. Later he would have a beautiful desk his sister gave him and he'd sit there to do the work of the day. It was a Shaeffer made in the USA.
When I was in my early thirties I gave him a Cross pen that was gold plated and worked with ink cartridges...modern. I have that also. He took it to work with him at Dowty Rotol the British firm he worked for after he retired from United Airlines. He was a landing gear inspector and someone etched his name on the side...Curt Pearson. The etching is somewhat faded now so I know he used it every day. In his early eighties he told me he couldn't find ink cartridges for it anymore so I took it back with me to San Francisco and found a place that had the cartridges and bought five and installed one. I took it back to Virginia and he was so happy to have his pen again.
After Dad passed I found the Cross pen. The cartridge was dry. There were four brand new cartridges in his desk. I miss him so much.
I was all chocked-up after reading this beautiful post. I miss my father so much and this brought back all the treasured memories I have of him. I was the Daddy's Girl and always will be. He was an Artist and so am I. It is because of him I am a sensitive parent to my girls. I learnt everything from him. He was the most amazing, kind and loving man I have ever known.
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