Instilled with the love of learning by her mother, Mary Sechler of Salisbury has special memories of her school years and some of the books from that timeframe as well.

A self-proclaimed packrat, Sechler, who said her mom was the same, has preserved some of her school books and while going through some of her collected treasures, she found a book on cursive writing, entitled “Noble’s Better Handwriting for Everyone 6.”

“I didn’t realize I still had it, Sechler said, when she found the book.

This was her original book that she was given when she was in school that helped them learn cursive writing, she said.

Born in Charlotte, Sechler said she lived most of her life in Kannapolis before moving to Salisbury.

It was while living in Kannapolis and attending McIver School that she learned cursive with Mrs. Harris as her teacher.

When she was learning cursive writing, she said it was fun because it was “like you were drawing, in a sense, and I thought this might be something I can use later.”

And she is passing this knowledge to her granddaughter who received a letter from a friend written in cursive and she didn’t know what it was.

Asking her grandmother what “this funny looking drawing” is, she told her it was cursive writing. So she began to teacher her how to write it and encouraging her that one day she can maybe write her friend back in cursive as well.

Therefore, because of a letter from a family member or friend written in cursive or the need for a signature, Sechler said she thought it was important to learn cursive writing.

She was five years old when she started school and graduated in 1975 and during those years, there were lots of memories made including having to change schools multiple times because of various fires in the schools.

Living close to McIver School, she said she walked to it when it burned and this “brought a bunch of memories too” plus additional articles that she has saved about the school fires, other school events and things that involve her children, she said, among others.

Also in her looking through her collected items, Sechler said she found some letters from former classmates when she was in second grade. She was sick during those early years; however, she couldn’t remember what the illness was, but found these letters telling her she was missed and to hurry back.

‘It was sweet. It really brought back a lot of memories,” she said. 

In addition to the cursive writing book, Sechler said she found other books as well including a science and math book and some that her mom had saved.

“I love to learn new things,” she said, and reading has been a special interest for Sechler, telling of some of her favorite books growing up, which have included Trixie Belden books and the Nancy Drew series.

Her special love of reading and learning didn’t stop with her school years but continues today as she said, “I have a special love for police work, and I like to read different stories about mysteries and police work.”