Friday Fives: When I Was Younger, So Much Younger Than Today…

It’s Paper Hangover Friday Fives time again! And this time, the question is: What are the FIVE best ages of your life and why? This is tough, because the older you get, a) the more good ages there are to list, and b) the more likely you are to forget the earlier ones. So, I’m going to list for you five of the best ages my decrepit mind can drag forth from the moldering recesses of it’s collapsing inner sanctum–and please forgive the use of approximation as a result. And also forgive my lengthy reasons… but you’ve come to expect that from me by now, yes?:

Age 8/9-ish: I completed my first book. It was a history of the Kings and Queens of a fictitious country, modeled after Antonia Fraser’s book The Lives of the Kings and Queens of England (see last Friday’s Friday Fives). By my reckoning at the time, the book was 100 pages long, however it was written (in blue ink–with illustrations) on single-sided paper (there was some kind of print out on the other side since it was paper my dad brought home from work for us to draw/write on), so really it was 50 pages in length. No stapler in our house could bind the tome, so I used a piece of yarn (red, I think), and tied it around the crease. Not the most effective, I know. I probably considered sewing it, but that would have been too hard by hand. I wish I still had it, since it took me ages to finish. Oh well. So, although the evidence no longer exists, my first book was a work of historical fiction.

Age 9/10: I first started really paying attention to music. Music has been a significant part of my life from as long as I can remember. For a while in my teenage years, I had aspirations of being a full-time musician, and my grades at school probably suffered as a result from the hours I spent practicing. Two things have been a constant in my life (my faith aside): writing of some kind (whether fiction or academic), and music. And they continue to be to this day. My dad had a large and relatively diverse record collection, so I grew up listening to music, and I’m sure it gave him no end of satisfaction that all three of his boys developed a love of music early on. But I distinctly remember this particular year, close to Christmas, borrowing my dad’s radio-cassette player (“boombox” they would later be called), and sitting in front of it, listening to songs on the radio, and recording ones I liked. That was the moment I pinpoint as when I began to develop my own musical taste. It was not long after that I bought my first record. Well, my mum bought it for me–but I was with her at the time. And it was my pocket money (or allowance) she used. I think. 🙂

Age 11: The year I sat the entrance exam for Hereford Cathedral School, and was accepted. This was a really big deal for me and my family–how big a deal I would never truly appreciate until now. For a start, three of us from my primary school took the exam, but only two of us got in. There were two components to the exam: math/number skills, and language/word skills. My math sucked, and always has, and in fact I was sure I wasn’t going to get in because I was sure I did badly on the math portion. So I guess my language/word skills must have more than compensated, especially since the guy from our school that didn’t get in was way better than me at math. I recall we also had an interview with the headmaster, which I don’t really remember that well, but it can’t have gone too badly. From the first day of term, and pretty much from that day on, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was odd. A number of my fellow students were from rich and/or well-educated families, and many of them seemed a lot brighter than me. None of my family had gone to university (I’m not sure if my mum and dad even completed school beyond age 15 or 16). My older brother was going to a local Comprehensive (US: public school), so I was probably looked on as the academic achiever of the family. But among all these bright kids, I didn’t feel it. And my family was not rich. In fact, my parents applied for me to get an Assisted Place, which meant that the government would pay my tuition fees. I never really discussed the financial aspect of my education with my parents, but I was aware that I was getting this Assisted Place, but I thought of it as some kind of poverty allowance, which in a sense it was. It was given to families that needed financial help. What I didn’t realize until only a few years ago, when my wife was curious one evening and searched around on Wikipedia, was that financial need wasn’t the only criterion. To receive the Assisted Place, you had to “score within the top 10-15% of applicants in the school’s entrance examination.” My jaw dropped when she read that to me. If I’d known that then, I might not have felt so inferior. Anyway, so… yes… getting into HCS… big deal.

Age 21: The year I got married. Need I say more? One of the happiest days of my life, and I’m still amazed this wonderful woman willingly puts up with me every day. I don’t consider myself the easiest person to live with. But she’s the best. We married in England. In December. Her family came over for the wedding. They came in coats. They left in coats. And they wore their coats the whole time in between. Coming from North Carolina, I think the cold in the north of England was a bit of a shock. The weather was particularly harsh that year, actually. Some of my family that were driving up had to turn around and go back–I think because of heavy snow. I’m not sure. I’ll have to check with my mum on that. But we had a small church wedding with family and friends. The minister wore a kilt (he was–and still is–originally from Scotland, and my wife insisted he wear his kilt. My wife has a thing for the Scots. Ask her about Sean Connery…), and we honeymooned in York. I love that time of year, especially in England, so it was really the best wedding I could have asked for. And marriage changes you. So this was a significant age/year.

Age 23: The birth of our first child. Not that I love my first born more than her five siblings, but her birth was not exactly straight-forward (she was six weeks premature), and after marriage, having kids is the next most life-changing event that can happen to anyone–at least in my experience. Our first daughter was born in December and weighed 4lbs 7oz. She was only breathing at half-capacity so after a brief meeting with dad, she was taken to the Neo-natal ICU to be hooked up and put under the lamps. She was there for the next month, and we visited every day, my wife often visiting more than once a day to nurse (I had to work). My daughter’s first Christmas was spent under the lights at the NICU. Now she’s in her latter teenage years, perfectly healthy, contemplating college, and is working on her first novel (she writes YA Fantasy). I won’t say any more about her because then I’d have to boast on the other five and we’d be here all day. Suffice it to say, my kids are awesome and I love them to pieces.

So that’s my five ages. Thanks for hanging in there! This has been fun. 🙂