He loved mornings at school. That is when they would do their writing and English work, his favorite subject. Nine-year old Jimmy had already figured out what he wanted to do when he grew up: he wanted to write.

Exactly what he wanted to write was still up in the air, but he knew that writing would be the best for him. He’d always been good at putting words together for a while, and knew that the essay sections of quizzes were his best chance at getting a good grade.

The bell rang as everyone took their seats, and Ms. Stiber turned around from the chalkboard to greet the class.

“Does anyone know what this number means?” she asked, and the room grew quiet. Jimmy was nervous. Numbers? Math wasn’t until after lunch; he wasn’t sure why there was a number on the board or why his teacher was asking about it. “Does anyone have a guess?”

Twenty heads turned from side to side to answer their teacher silently, and she grinned in response.

“I didn’t think so,” she said, and grabbed a piece of chalk, “Cassie, how old are you?”

“I’m nine and a half,” the blonde-haired girl in the front answered quickly.

“Do you know how many days old you are?”

“Days old?” Cassie asked, her confusion evident, along with her other classmates.

“Yes, “ Ms. Stiber nodded, “days.”

“Uh…nope.”

“How about you Clint?”

Another head shook no.

Ms. Stiber pointed back to the chalkboard and the number she’d written there before. “Okay, I want someone to read this number aloud for me. Any volunteers?”

A small number of little hands popped up into the air and Ms. Stiber pointed to one in the back of the room, “Kelsey?”

“It says,” Kelsey’s voice started as she peered at the long number, “um…eleven thousand, seven hundred and fifty six.”

“Very good,” Ms. Stiber answered with a smile and a nod, “now, I’m going to ask the class again, does anyone have a guess as to what this number is?”

One single hand raised in the classroom.

“Jessica?”

“How many days old you are, Ms. Stiber?”

“Very good Jessica,” the teacher beamed, “that is exactly right. Now, I know you all are a little confused, but I have a new writing assignment I want you all to start working on this morning. It’s going to be a paper on your life.”

“But we’re not old,” a voice from the back said.

“I know that Tony,” Ms. Stiber answered, “but that doesn’t mean that you can’t start writing about your favorite memories now. When you get to be ‘old’ you’ll want to have these memories.”

Jimmy looked down at his simple notebook and sighed. He started questioning the things he would write about.

“You’ll have through the end of the week to finish your paper, and then we are going to share them with the class. I want you to talk to your parents tonight and figure out how many days old you are as of today, and that will be the opening line to your papers. Any questions?”

The room was silent and Ms. Stiber nodded, “Okay then, class, please get out your English books and turn to page 139, and we are going to start where we left off yesterday…”

A chorus of moans answered the teacher as pages of books started rustling. Jimmy tucked his notebook away, already starting to think of the things he’d fill his paper with.

---

“So,” Larissa Halpert questioned her youngest son later that night, as he sat on a bar stool in the kitchen and she started dinner, “you have to figure out how many days old you are?”

“Yup,” he answered as he shoved another Oreo into his mouth. “And then I have to write about memories I have up until now.”

“That is an interesting assignment Jimmy,” Larissa commented, “I have to finish dinner, but I’d be happy to help you figure it out after. Is that okay?”

“Sure mom,” he answered after polishing off the glass of milk. “But I don’t know what memories to write about…”

“You don’t know what memories to write about?” she asked, “Why not?”

“I dunno,” he answered with a shrug, “what do you think I should write about?”

“This is your assignment James,” she reminded him, “you have to make that decision.” After a quick pause, she spoke again, “Although, you could write about the family vacation we took to the Grand Canyon last year… or how about Misty?”

“Misty is a good one,” Jimmy noted, “she was a great dog.”

“Yes,” Larissa agreed, “she was. You have lots of great stuff you could write about Jimmy, you just have to decide what it is you want to remember.”

“Thanks mom,” Jimmy said and he hopped off the stool and wrapped his arms around his mother’s waist. “I’m going to finish my math homework so I can start the writing assignment after dinner.”

“Good idea,” she agreed, and placed a gentle kiss on top of his head, “would you tell Peter to come here, it’s his night to set the table.”

“Sure,” Jimmy answered and sprinted from the room. After he’d knocked on his older brother’s bedroom door and delivered the message from their mother, he shut himself into his bedroom.

He tapped his Mighty Mouse pencil against his chin and struggled to write something down. He wanted to start writing down all his memories; he wanted to make sure he always remembered.

Four days later he turned his in assignment and that started it all.

Jimmy Halpert

Ms. Stiber’s Fourth Grade Class

March 10, 1987

Three thousand, four hundred, and thirty-seven. That is a lot it seems, but when I was figuring this out with my mom, I realized how small of a number it really is. Her number was a lot bigger. There were so many memories to choose from when I sat down to write this paper and I couldn’t decide where to start. So, I’m going back to the oldest ones.

When I was five, my parents took me and my two older brothers to see the Grand Canyon. My parents rented a big van, and we took two whole weeks to drive out there and back during that summer. It was so cool. I’d never been out of Scranton before that. At least, not anywhere out of Pennsylvania. We camped while we were out there and I got to ride a horse for the first time. It was the coolest thing ever. That place was huge. I remember my oldest brother Tom tried to trick me into jumping off this cliff area, and he got in so much trouble by my dad. That was pretty cool. That is my favorite family vacation so far I think.

Another good memory I have is of my first pet ever. Her name was Misty and she was a golden retriever. My brothers, Pete and Tom, had begged my parents for a long time to get a dog, and they surprised us for Christmas with her three years ago. Pete and Tom were so excited that they were jumping up and down. We had so much fun trying to teach her tricks and taking her for walks. I loved her so much. Two months ago Misty ran away. I was so sad, and so were Pete and Tom. We posted signs all over our neighborhood and on the bulletin board at our church, but she still hasn’t come back. We don’t want another dog because she was so special.

I hope I live to be a hundred thousand days old and do lots of cool stuff in that time. I want to remember everything.