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10/20/2017

Memories of Firsts #MFRWauthor

Welcome to Week 42 of the 2017 Challenge. This week's topic required some thought. First Love. Now that can be taken a lot of ways. As a child my first love was a sable collie named Bumps. More on him next week. Or I could write about my love of horses which also began as a child. Which could be why magical equines with attitude seem to insert themselves into my fantasy novels.

The romance writer said, "No. The post is supposed to be about your first encounter with love. Or it could be about the first boy you kissed or maybe the first man to steal your heart." Note to self: circle date on the calendar. Put string on finger. Don't forget 45th anniversary.

Of the options presented that feature romance, I won't reveal the name of recipient of that first kiss. The topic didn't specify the love had to be reciprocated so I will tell the story of the encounter--I was six. A boy in my class asked his mother for a ring. He preferred her diamond engagement ring. (He had good tastes). The reason was he wanted to give me the ring for my birthday because he loved and wanted to marry me. Obviously his mother didn't provide the ring. We weren't pampered that much back in the day. No cars to graduate high school, no computers at age three. No, for the birthday a gift from the local five and dime store sufficed. The jewelry is long gone, the boy moved on to another. However the memory remains as a family "remember when" story.

After deliberation, I'm going to write about my first love -- books. Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy mysteries and the Cherry Ames nurse books (prophetic since I'm now a caregiver) flew off my parent's bookcase shelves, then I moved to emptying the county library. Action adventure, westerns, and spy novels gave way to E. E. Doc Smith and Isaac Asimov. In time, the titles were by more contemporary authors, Barbara Hambly and Anne McCaffrey. Romance entered the mix with the works of Carole McPhee and Judy Griffith Gill (who also crosses genres to science fiction.)

I still love reading books. So my first love still remains a true one.

So that's my post. "Who" or "What" was your first love? Read the other posts in the hop to see what their creators reveal.

~till next time, Helen

11 comments:

  1. I LOVED reading Cherry Ames! My mom had most of the books, and 'Student Nurse' is missing the first few pages of Ch. 1. I'd love to find a complete, non-damaged copy of it. I also devoured Vicki Barr, Dana Girls, and The Bobsey Twins. I'm praying that when I unpack those books from my storage unit they're still in good condition.

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  2. I read ALL the Nancy Drew books that were published at the time and still have the majority of them packed away in my basement. Loved hearing about your first "engagement" - what a cute little romance hero the little guy was!

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  3. aww how sweet. I loved the story of being 'proposed' to at 6. See I wish I had memories like that I could recall, but alas my memory is terrible.

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  4. Yes, books! Romance novels are probably the best and safest way for a girl to experience all the things she can't in real life. Lovely post and thanks for sharing! (the engagement ring was cute)

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  5. Reading is a wonderful first, and enduring, love!

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  6. So , how long was your engagement to Mr Six? Pretty long, I imagine.

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  7. @Kenzie - we finally had to clean out the Cherry Ames a couple of moves ago. But my mother was happy they went to a good home.

    @Robin - Thanks, you've given me an idea. Maybe I'll incorporate him into a story.

    @Meka - memory? Is that something we're supposed to have. I know the "engagement" story but don't really remember it.I'm at the age where I have what they call benign forgetfullness. But I don't know what is so benign about it.

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  8. @Raine @Maureen Love of Reading is a precious gift I inherited from my grandmother and mother.

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  9. @Ed Don't think the "engagement" lasted too long. I moved that summer. And since it wasn't a diamond it was a friendship gift not the formal proposal that he had originally envisioned. But it was a sweet romantic thought for a first crush.

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  10. Your story about the ring at six is cute. I still have the ring from my "first love." I was older than six. :-) My love of reading came from my dad. At a young age, we'd read and talk about stories in Reader's Digest. I can't hear or see one now without thinking of my dad. He insisted I read.

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    1. Having the ring from your "first love" is quite an accomplishment. It's one way to help keep a memory alive. thanks for stopping by.

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