My Parker Ballpen Story: A Writer’s Pen

Hi, everyone! I hope you’re all safe and well. I’m back with another heartfelt story! A story on how I decided that my measure for being a writer would be owning a Parker ballpen.

My Parker Ballpen Backstory

I can’t remember how old I was but I think I was still in grade school. Poveda invited Conrado de Quiros to give a career talk. At that time, I didn’t know who he was except that he was a writer for the Inquirer. And because he was a writer, I was immediately starstruck! A student then asked him what his favorite pen was to write during the Question and Answer portion, and he said it was his Parker ballpen. He picked it up from the breast pocket of his plaid polo and showed it off. It even had his name engraved! Since then, I told myself that if one day I become a writer, I’d also want to get my own Parker ballpen with my name engraved.

A Pen That’s Been to a Thousand Places

Fast forward to when I graduated in Creative Writing from Ateneo—my parents got me a black and gold Parker ballpen with my name engraved. It’s never left my bag and has traveled with me everywhere to all of my #GretasJunkyardAdventures. Some parts have started to peel off, but I still hold this pen very close to my heart.

The Nostalgia of Writing on Paper

Similarly, I have so many nostalgic memories with Sharpie markers and Paper Mate pens. Every time I visit a bookstore, I always have this need to buy a pen or two. Even if I don’t need one yet! It’s why I have a huge collection of pens at home (kept together with my collection of notebooks and journals).

Though I may have gotten used to writing digitally, there will always be something special with writing using a pen and notebook. It’s how I started my writing career in the first place!

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