Monday, May 14, 2012

First Love Blog Fest

Alex Cavanaugh has come up with another great idea for a blogfest. First loves in four categories. Movie, song/band, book, and person.  I'd love to link to all these but as I'm doing this blog on computer option C, I'll stick with basics. 

It's difficult to pick a movie, but I grew up at a time when Westerns were very popular.  I used to love those reruns of Rawhide and that led to a desire to see very Clint Eastwood movie made.  The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly was my childhood favorite.  My sister used to play the soundtrack constantly on my dad's old stereo.  The gritty story set in the horror of the Civil War and the peeks into man's greed and cruelty made this a wonderful movie I can still watch again and again.

For a few years in college I listened to The Cars a lot but the album I played over and over again was Meatloaf's Bat Out of Hell.  I think I knew the words to every song.  Now that I've thought about this I'm going to put some of those songs on my iPod.

Reading books has always been like breathing air to me.  I borrowed every book from the school library I could.  I had some wonderful teachers who let me visit the library at times it was closed to everyone else.  But the book I first loved and that I still have was the very first book I owned.  I grew up in a family of seven children and my parents worked hard to clothe and feed us.  There was little money for toys or extras, like books.  When I was about seven, my parents bought me a large Golden Book for middle readers.  The True Story of Smokey the Bear.  I slept with it for weeks and read it every day. It was very precious.

At first I thought of my high school sweet heart as the first person I loved but then I decided I had to go back further.  We lived on a farm and our closest neighbor was another farm.  That farmer had a son the same age as me.  Raymond was friendly, funny and he had a pony.  He would sometimes ride over and let us ride that little spotted pony.  He gave me a Valentine every year through elementary school.  Everyone knew we were boyfriend and girlfriend. But Raymond struggled in school and he was held back a year.  We grew apart and seldom saw each other when we entered junior high school.  Later I went to college and he went into the travel business. I understand he became pretty successful though his two marriages didn't work out. He must be still longing for me.

Now I'm heading out to try and learn about the first in more people's lives.  Visit more first loves with me.

35 comments:

Spanj said...

Great blogfest entry. I still own the book I blogged about. They are just so precious, aren't they?

Unknown said...

Excellent choice with MeatLoaf. My favourites by him would be 'Dead ringer for love' or 'paradise by the dashboard light'

Cate Masters said...

A boy with a pony? What's not to love?
I still have my original copy of Lord of the Rings, yellowed pages and all!

Miranda Hardy said...

Probably the best western of all time. Lol

LD Masterson said...

Good choices. I'm a bit older so none were firsts for me but most would make a favorites list.

You're the first one I read in this blogfest who didn't declare their spouse was their first love. Either no one else had a childhood romance or their memories aren't as good.

Dani said...

Oh Meatloaf! Great pick! Great song!

Bossy Betty said...

I met with Raymond just the other day and he did indeed ask all about you.

Gossip_Grl said...

Lovely posting of firsts. I enjoyed reading your posts.

Tara Tyler said...

awesome classics and great story! no doubt he's pining!

Unknown said...

that is a true great bunch of choices!

We all love something...right!
Jeremy [Retro-Zombie]
Howlin' Wolf Records: On-Line Magazine

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Can't go wrong with an Eastwood movie! And maybe Raymond realized that if he couldn't have you, no one else would do.
Thanks for participating in my blogfest!

Timothy S. Brannan said...

I listened to "Bat Out of Hell" on constant repeat during my freshman year in college. Love that album.

Tim
The Freedom of Nonbelief
The Other Side

Anonymous said...

Meatloaf is a excellent pick!

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I had a Smokey the Bear comic book that I loved.

Nancy Thompson said...

When I was a kid, my parents packed my brother and I into the back of the station wagon with our sleeping bags and took us to the drive-in theater, where The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly was playing. They told me to lie down and got to sleep, but I kept peering over the back seat to watch. Silly memory!

Dana said...

Meatloaf is awesome! Great pick!

Annalisa Crawford said...

Meatloaf is a great choice - I knew all of the words too! Ideal CD to blast out on a long car journey, singing at the top of your voice... oh, just me then? :-)

Golden Eagle said...

I've never heard of Meatloaf before--I must be really out of the loop.

Great post!

Lynn Proctor said...

yeah i think meatloaf, should have stayed off the apprentice--he used to seem so tough!

EvalinaMaria said...

Thank you for sharing your memories.

Evalina, This and that...

Jemi Fraser said...

Poor Raymond - hope he finds his true love soon! :)

Love Meatloaf! Going to have Paradise by the Dashboard Light stuck in my head for a bit now! :)

Unknown said...

I love Paradise by the Dashboard Lights. What a great tune! Bat out of Hell is an awesome album.

Your first love had a pony. Now that would definitely tip the romance scales for me. ;)

Tyrean Martinson said...

Great story!

Alexandra Heep said...

Thanks for following (am returning the favor), so I could find this wonderful post.

Clint Eastwood is my favorite actor and Bat out of Hell is the first album I got to listen to at around age 9 - my older brother brought it into the house.

Although, my mother hated the cover and from then on we pretty much had to listen to music in secret or away from home. I also learned my first English by reading the lyrics over and over (I was born in Germany).

cool post.

Heather Murphy said...

That is a cute story about your neighbor :) I am stopping by as part of the A-Z road trip but I also participated in the blogfest yesterday too.

Anonymous said...

I almost selected the Good, Bad, and the Ugly. I'm glad someone did. Love the music. Very cool.

Trisha said...

Hmm, I'm not sure if it's a pity or not that you and Raymond drifted apart. Perhaps if he'd married you it would've worked out :)

Nice post!

baygirl32 said...

I saw Meatloaf in concert back in the 90's - what a show

Jolie du Pre said...

I enjoyed this post. I can't remember the first movie I loved. The first song I loved was "I Want You Back" by The Jackson 5. The first book I loved was Black Beauty. The first person I loved was my husband who I met when I was 16.

Precious Monsters

The Happy Whisk said...

There is a pretty good documentary or, rockumentary about Meatloaf. I saw it on NetFlix and enjoyed it.

Barbara said...

What a magical first love!
I believe everything happens for a reason.


Sharing the Love!
English Speaking
Zone

Gossip_Grl said...

Stopping thru to let ya know that I am sharing the blogging love of a blog award to you. Stop by http://1dayiwll.blogspot.com/ to collect. :)

Martha said...

Hmmm, maybe you should look up that early first love? Probably wouldn't be difficult these days :)

Arlee Bird said...

You get a big plus for your film pick. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is one of my favorite films and one that I can watch repeatedly as well. It's also rather long.


Lee
An A to Z Co-Host
Tossing It Out

nethy said...

really nice pick. a lot of people really in love and have good love story movie.

nethy