First love is an un-named Irish Girl (Juniors in general)

Member Name: marandina

Product:	Juniors in general
Date:	20/02/03 (78 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Can only happen once, Lots of times

Disadvantages: Can only happen once, Lots of times

First love begs a definition before you can write much more. So what's the definition of love? Is it the racing pulse and sweating that happens when you find yourself attracted to someone else or something more fundamental than that? What about love as opposed to being in love? I seem to remember debates raging about the difference between those feelings people possess when they have that deep mutual attraction that comes from just being together as opposed to a longer lasting trust or acceptance that comes from something more longer lasting.

I've always wondered about the essence of something as ethereal as love. It's somewhat intangible and yet whole concepts are laid to rest on a foundation of love. Even more so, whole religions promote everlasting love as the rationale for our being here at all. I did write once about the ramifications of life after death and that the only constant I could find was love. This particular commodity is held in vastly different quantities by different people. Maybe the ultimate test is how much love one particular person can spread to others?

I suppose first love is different again. Once you've managed to actually define it then you can get lost in a maze of different degrees of love applying to different things. After all, you can love your football team but will that be that same as loving your family? A premise as broad as this inevitably takes you back to your childhood. Sadly, in my case, it wasn't a particularly happy one but there were some moments of inspiration.

Did I love my mom and dad and would that constitute first love? Possibly seeing as they are the first people I would have encountered on my way into this messy one-horse town of a world of ours. Of course, how could I love them then when I was only a bairn and not capable of coherent independent thought until later life. So, in my waffly way, I manage to side-step a potential land mine of a question that, perhaps after
all, I would rather remain unanswered.

I can call up a time when my best friend's cousin came to visit from Eire. I would only have been 7 or so and clearly recall gazing out of my bedroom window, totally enamoured with this beautiful Irish girl. At that age, shyness can be a severe affliction as was this case in question. Was I in love with her? I think I was judging by the feelings raging through my body at the time. She filled my thoughts for the duration of her visit but it was finite experience as she left for home and I never saw her again. I never did speak to her, which is a lesson in itself. Life really is too short you know?

I suppose I could trivialise by talking about first love of other things but it can hardly compare to your first love of another person. There are days when I look at my daughter knowing that she will succumb to that frailty that is so beguiling and yet leaves us so vulnerable. Look at all of those examples in the past. Poor old Samson getting his hair cut resulting in a trashed temple, the Queen of Sheba running rough shod over those believing males and myself saying "I do" in the ultimate moment of commitment and weakness (?). If she's anything like I was then she will fall in love regularly as a teenager growing up. Maybe that was down due to insecurities elsewhere so maybe she'll be stronger than I and always have the upper hand. It's an adventure that makes life what it is. It's better to have loved and lost and all that. Do you know that the worst thing you can do to a person is to ignore them? Folks actually prefer to be hated as opposed to being ignored. Love is similar in a way - maybe?

First love, then? Well, I've had lots of first loves but they are ultimately irrelevant compared to the feelings I had for my friend's cousin. Yes, I fell in love with football at the age of 6, yes I loved my family and yes I adore my wife and kids as now. Oh, before I sign off,
just one more thing. Any potential dads out there, make sure that you attend the birth of the results of your procreation. I was there at both of my children's. My recollection of my daughter's arrival in 1992 is as vivid now as at the time. How can I ever forget the amazing detail on her little face as she slipped out of my wife's womb? I'll always remember her first little cough. No, she didn't cry, she coughed. 3 years later, my son was born in a moment that I really had waited all of my life for. Moments, times two, of first love.

Thanks to MALU for thinking this one up. It's nice to write in general terms sometimes. I hope this hasn't bored you too much (or am I just tired of opinionating?)

Take it easy

Marandina

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