It’s My First Day 😀

Daily writing prompt

Tell us about your first day at something — school, work, as a parent, etc.

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The most memorable “first day” that I ever had was my first day of primary school when I was four-years-old. It’s one of the few memories that I have of that era. The one thing that I noticed is being surrounded by kids who were crying for their mothers. I was quite proud and pleased to be at school myself. And one of them was also banging on the desk as he bawled.

I thought that the whole thing quite bizarre. What else was happening in September 1966? Let’s have a look at the songs in the charts. I wouldn’t have known these at the time. I hated teenagers and hippies 😀. I think that I did know Yellow Submarine and Guantanamera back in the 1960s, but I only gradually discovered the others.

• Jim Reeves – Distant Drums
• Small Faces – All Or Nothing
• Beatles – Yellow Submarine / Eleanor Rigby
• Roy Orbison – Too Soon To Know
• The Who – I’m A Boy
• Beach Boys – God Only Knows
• Supremes – You Can’t Hurry Love
• New Vaudeville Band – Winchester Cathedral
• Sandpipers – Guantanamera
• Rolling Stones – Have You Seen Your Mother Baby Standing In The Shadow

My favourites from the list are the following songs. I discovered Eleanor Rigby in 1974 when I bought the Beatles Red Album. But when I heard it, I recognised it, so I might have even heard it back in 1966, without knowing what it was. And I remembering buying a Beach Boys album in the summer of 1980, which included God Only Knows. It’s one of my favourite songs of all time.

I remember learning a few songs in my early years in class – The Lonely Goatherd, Edelweiss, Scarlet Ribbons, The Happy Wanderer, and The Little Drummer Boy. Later in school we learned all Irish nationalist/rebel songs. My own kids had much more fun – learning pop songs. I vaguely remember learning the Skye Boat Song too.

What TV shows was I watching in 1966? Here’s a list:

• Green Acres
• I Dream of Jeannie
• The Lucy Show
• Lassie
• Felix the Cat
• Hitchcock Presents
• Get Smart

The only notable September ’66 news stories that resonate with me are the premier of Star Trek and the opening of the Severn Bridge in Wales. But it would be many years before I would cross that bridge.

Since then, I’ve had various first days. It was always quite exciting starting new jobs. It was a bit scary having new babies in the house, but we coped.

Now I’m looking forward to the first day of my full pension, and my first day in heaven, whichever comes first 😀. So, I’ve found a way to weave my Christian faith into this post. But I could also mention the first day that I committed my life to Christ – August 17th, 1980. I didn’t just want to go through life as a nominal Christian. Evangelicals in Cork used to tell me that I needed to be born again. I argued with them, and I spent a good number of years thinking it all through. And then in August 1980, I made my decision, although I attribute it to the Holy Spirit opening up my eyes. Two songs loomed large that summer, a secular song, and a Christian song. Here they are:

2 Corinthians 5:17
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”