Dear Cash,
When you mentioned in early December your plan to ask Santa for a typewriter, I started to panic. Do they make typewriters especially for kids? Are they expensive? Would it arrive in time for Christmas?
I soon learned that children ages 6 to 16 years old are actually the biggest clientele for vintage typewriters — who knew?! — and their attraction comes after learning that most of the great writers throughout history used typewriters to create unforgettable works. While still too young for a laptop computer, you’ve begun to feel limited by your handwritten books; so it made sense you’d want a typewriter, especially since your authorship began at the sweet age of five.
You didn’t want a super expensive typewriter from Santa. “Just a vintage one in good condition that I can use to type my stories.” Luckily I found a young couple from The Netherlands, Anouk and Rénaldo, who refurbish typewriters and then ship them overseas at no cost. Their passion is restoring vintage machines back to their full glory and they couldn’t have been more helpful in choosing a first typewriter for a child. Before long a bright yellow Tippa Triumph was headed to Pow Pow’s wrapped in butcher paper and a festive red ribbon. Inside the carriage was even a typed note from Santa detailing the steps to begin using. Such a lovely touch!
Spotting the package underneath the Christmas tree, you lifted it, and feeling its weight knew right away what was inside. “I think this is the typewriter Mom!!” you exclaimed, tearing through the wrapping while Grandma and Pow Pow looked on. Since that moment a day hasn’t gone by that you haven’t used your bright yellow machine.
It came with its original carrying case so you brought your Tippa along on our New Years trip to Westchester. There you sat in the corner of our hotel room, bathed in window light, fastidiously working on your latest masterpiece.
A metronome of keystrokes and the “ding” of a finished line have become the new background noise. To be honest, I love it. And besides nothing is more heartwarming than knowing it’s the sound of you putting your thoughts onto paper, instant, without a screen or delete keys to erase anything. As a perfectionist, when you learned there was no easy way to correct mistakes, you were initially disappointed. The options are either to use white-out and then backspace or just fix mistakes by typing “xxx’s” over them, which, it turns out, is what most typists do according to Anouk. “It’s what I do. Plus, it adds character to the pages. And no two pages will ever look the same.” Not surprisingly this was your choice after learning this.
In the apartment we’ll find you typing on the couch, at your desk, at night in your bed by the light of your headlamp, early in the morning before breakfast, and until the last minute before we risk being late for school. You even asked if you could bring your typewriter to school, and though it was suggested you wait until a future “share day”, the fact that you wanted to bring it “to work on my book during free choice”, shows the extent of your passion.
Your first “typed” story is about a Pokémon world you and your best friend are researching in order to learn about the darkest day of the “Dynamax storm”, along with other characters based loosely on your classmates. When you pulled the first completed page out of the roller you were stunned. “Look how much I can write on ONE page! I’ve been typing this page for days! I mean, I could make a whole book in just three pages!”
You’ve been trying to memorize the keyboard in order to work at a quicker pace and have begun drawing the illustrations first before feeding the paper through on the opposite side. Sort of your own version of double-sided. “Plus with less paper Mom, it’s better for the environment!” Now besides being an environmentalist we can add Hemingway to your list!
I’m absolutely in awe of your love for writing Cash. It thrills me that it’s become such a passion of yours, and I hope you continue to churn those wildly creative thoughts into literature with the help of your bright yellow Tippa — the sweet sound of keynotes filling the air!
I love you son!
Always and forever, Mom