The Avengers

When I was 12 years old, I experienced two events that changed the course of my life: (1) I got my own paper route; and (2) my mom drove me to the bank and opened up a checking account in my name.  The reason she opened the account was because she didn’t want the job of writing a check every week to the local newspaper (Peoria Journal Star).  When we got home, she taught me how to write checks, and when the first bank statement arrived in the mail, she taught me how to reconcile the account.