I found a penny on the ground as I was taking a walk the other day.I seem to find a lot of pennies lately. People no longer lose them. They throw them away on purpose. I’ve seen young children refuse to take pennies in change at the corner store. “They ain’t worth nothing,” they’d say.
My oldest recollection is of my Grandmother giving me a penny when I was very young. It was during the great depression and I really didn’t know what a penny was for but is was shiny and I clutched it in my tiny hand. I cannot remember my Grandmother at all. She died shortly after giving me that penny and I just cannot picture her face. I remember that penny though. My folks told me to save it. That saving pennies was a good things to do.
I saved pennies and then dollars and then I saved hundred dollar bills.
On my 21st birthday I bought my first car. It was a 1950 Ford two door sedan with a radio, heater and white wall tires. I paid cash for it with twelve one hundred dollar bills.
Those pennies had added up.
I just wonder if that child who refused those pennies change or whoever threw that penny away will ever pay cash for a new automobile.
There are recurring rumors that the government might do away with the penny as a piece of currency. I hope not, for it was the pennies that I saved that led to dollars and hundreds and thousands and it all began with that simple lesson that my parents taught me when I received that first penny. That saving pennies was a good thing to do.
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