This is my first attempt to write, please post comments...
*
It was mostly always cold, from October to May in some years, Ireland can be a wet, cold, dreary place, John was a tall forty one year old man, at 200lbs he was well built, kind of rugby large build with a beer belly that comes and goes with the seasons.
Having had a rough childhood some might say, he settled down with his wife and had a family, good job, typical kind of man, but not every cloud has a silver lining...
First day of school was his earliest memory, the pain and anguish of his mother's pending departure from the classroom, Class no. 4, screaming kids all in the same boat as him, but he couldn't see them.
Miss O'Brien was his new class teacher, tall -- a lot taller than his mother almost giant like to him, she had long black straight hair, tall and skinny is how she could be described, wearing a long chequered type skirt and a purple jumper, she immediately put John and some others to the calm place where she needed them to be, there were still a few inconsolable little boys and girls scattered about.
Anyhow as the week progressed it wasn't long before he had made new friends and school was a doddle, low babies then high babies as it was called back then went in a flash, the next big memories were making his first communion, a pale blue suit with horrible double breast pockets and flared trousers that would have enough material to have two pairs of trousers in today's standards.
The usual travelling around to neighbours and aunts and uncles followed that to be handed 50p of in some cases like his uncle tom a tenner (Tom was a taxi driver and had the very strange ability without him doing anything that when he passed in front of the Ferguson TV the picture would go all black and white dots).
Following the communion he went to third class where the bubble of his old classmates disintegrated and a new teacher 'Mr. Sorensom'. A small man with massive acne and who smelled of BO each day as his clothes seemed never to change, Sorro as they all called him after a while (but not to him) was a good teacher, spent time getting each kid involved where he could, confirmation happened in sixth class where the similarities of communion were pretty much the same except that John received eighty four pounds which was a lot of money back in those days, it was at this age when John started to find an interest in girls, and it has to be said himself.
That summer school finished and was a break before entering the secondary level school or college as it was referred to.
The summer was unusually hot, and most days were spent out doors with a group of friends on bikes and playing football, that's when John met Tina, a beautiful and very quiet girl from the other side of the town, she had black hair always with tons of gel or hairspray and rock hard to touch, by accident, John fell in love instantly, and she the same, summer went and they both started college in the same class, the two were inseparable on a daily account, they had only kissed during the start of the year, later in the year it went to touching outside of their clothing and in third year touching underneath the clothes , they were the perfect school couple,
At the year before the Deb's they split up , this was harrowing for John, not knowing the reason, although his parents had called to hers to put a stop to the relationship a few months before, they met in secret wherever they could.
The Debs -- John had gotten asked by Amy Keogh to go so they did, when they arrived the first person he saw was Tina with her new boyfriend, John got drunk and forgot about her.
