If you asked me what were the defining moments or events in my own life, I would come up with the following:
- Meeting Jenny when my life was somewhat stalled. We've achieved so many things together and had such amazing experiences.
- My first English teacher, John Fraser, who gave me a love of the English language and linguistic skills that were a lasting asset job-wise.
- My school friend David who gave me a copy of the Communist Manifesto and prompted a life-long belief in socialism and an egalitarian society.
- My first bookshop job and the immediate feeling that this was something I could enjoy doing for many years. Which I did.
- Buying our present house. For a long time we assumed we could never afford a house, but circumstances conspired to make it possible. This is our second house and it ticks all the boxes!
- My first trip to Australia. It was extraordinary landing in Hobart and being on the other side of the world in such a spectacular country.
- Moving from my cold and spartan bedsit in Abbey Road, London, my home for 6½ years, to a slightly better bedsit.
- Moving from London to Belfast. We both liked Northern Ireland and decided to take a massive gamble, ditch our existing jobs and move there. It's been a big success and we've never regretted our decision.
- Hearing that my tiny trace of prostate cancer had vanished of its own accord.
- Retiring from paid employment 2½ years ago after 53 years of working. I don't miss work and I'm having a great time.
Those are some good ones and I love that you included a teacher on your list.
ReplyDeleteBijoux: Teachers can be very important in a child's development. John was absolutely passionate about teaching English and it showed.
DeleteI have had many such moments too but, to list them like you have done here will take some time. Suffice it to say that I think that all of us have such moments and we simply take them for granted and move on.
ReplyDeleteRamana: Oh, I don't take such moments for granted at all. I'm very grateful that they happened and my life has been enriched as a result.
DeleteToo many to list basically but I hear you on important teachers and finding a place (Newfoundland) that speaks to my spirit.
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www: Yes, you seem totally at home in Newfoundland - good that you've found your ideal spot!
DeleteFor me it was a shift in consciousness when I was ten years old. I wrote about it in Building a Solid Foundation.
ReplyDeleteJean: Very impressive that at the age of 15 you had already decided what to achieve by the age of 35! And you also had an inspiring English teacher.
DeleteInspiring teachers and librarians set me on a path where I could inform and amuse myself for life.
ReplyDeleteMeeting Leo gave me love and let me love.
Fly: Another inspiring teacher! It must be very satisfying for the teacher to know they're having such a good influence on someone.
DeleteTen moments in fifty years. That's one every five years. A busy and defining life.
ReplyDeleteJoanne: Yes, so many unexpected things have happened. Things I never even dreamt of when I was a small boy!
DeleteI wouldn't know where to start choosing defining moments as seems like so many significant ones all along the way. Certainly one was being able to go to college when my mother’s cousin who taught at Columbia University (that I had never met) offered me a loan the summer after I graduated from high school.
ReplyDeleteJoared: How wonderful that your cousin offered you a loan so you could go to college. That was a very lucky opportunity.
DeleteI suspect one of the most defining moments in my life was getting a library card at age five after proving to the librarian that I could write my full name. That's the one with the most long lasting results.
ReplyDeleteThe other most powerful one is meeting my Dave at age seventeen and marrying him two years later--we've been married almost 54 years now.
Lots of other ones along the way--too many to list--but those two define most of my life.
Linda: I must have got a library card fairly early on but I don't remember. But I do remember reading a lot of books as a child.
DeleteI don't actually remember getting that library card. What I remember is hearing my mother tell the story of hearing me in the quiet of the library loudly insisting, "I can write my whole name!" I do remember going to story hour at the library and listening to the librarian read Mary Poppins to us.
DeleteLinda: I know I devoured all the Enid Blyton books - the Famous Five, the Secret Seven. Whether I got them from the library or as presents, I can't recall.
DeleteI couldn't begin to list the people (including many teachers) and events (including some outstanding travel opportunities) that have shaped me and my world view. And I'd add the experience of parenting. Difficult but certainly life-changing and rewarding.
ReplyDeleteAgent: I can imagine you've had very many defining moments. And of course parenting totally changes a person's outlook on life.
DeleteThat's an interesting line of thought. I must consider it myself.
ReplyDeleteLiz: I look forward to the result of your deliberations!
DeleteI think everyone has a few defining moments in their life.
ReplyDeleteMary: You often don't realise they were defining moments until some time afterwards.
DeleteI always feel that nearly everything can be a defining moment. My friend was once sitting in the chair in her living room when the ceiling fell in at one corner. She felt it might have been a defining moment when she decided to sit in a chair and read her book in another part of the room where nothing fell!
ReplyDeleteJenny: I think what I mean by a defining moment is that one that changes your whole outlook on life - or changes life itself. I would say that was just a lucky choice of where to sit!
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