Memoirs of a Pencil

I cleaned out my backpack today and I think I finally retired my pencil for good. Done and done. We finally parted ways and it was pretty hard on both of us. I first met Dr. Grip (yes, a Dr. Grip pencil.... 0.5 lead) back in high school. I worked at Office Max and I had a thing for pocketing pens and pencils. I've always loved perusing the pen/pencil aisle for some reason. They're all basically the same, but they're all so different. So, I got Dr. Grip and I fell in love with it. I used it throughout my senior year in highschool and upon graduating, I brought it with me on my 'year off' before going to college. I used that pencil my first day of college, second, third, etc. Everyday. Every frickin' day. I never looked at another writing utensil. It was an amazing 7 years. (1 high school, 1 year vacation, 5 years college). I lost it only once and it wasn't my fault. Goddam ferret was a rubber addict and he took it out on my pencil once. Found it a week later all chewed up under a bed. I actually had to go to the store and buy another $5 pen and exchange rubbers with it. But the pencil lived on. I used it so much that the embossed lettering actually wore off. I wonder if there is some kind of record for how long someone has used the same pencil. Because 15 years ago there was only plain old wooden pencils that had a definitive lifespan. My pencil was a machine. A stylus cyborg.