What is the first time doing anything that sticks out most in your mind?

My first (and only) time whitewater rafting. It was a few years ago on the Arkansas River in Colorado. You could tell the guides were anxious and a bit nervous because the river was at record levels. Their excitement for the conditions was contagious. We rafted class IV rapids and had a passenger fall out of the raft. Luckily she was saved. I’ve never been more terrified or excited in my life. After the trip I was told that everyone on the raft followed my lead. I felt proud that I handled myself well during a scary time.

I hate it when I find something fun to do and I feel like I’m a natural at it, then not be able to do it again. My favorite hobbies are expensive. damn

First time doing a 360 kickflip up a curb. It was actually better than sex. I spent months trying it thousands of times and failing each time. Then one day I landed it. I was thrilled. And the best part was that people were around to see it and they were just as happy as I was.

That is the nice thing about skateboarding. It really isn’t competitive. If someone pulls off something great I will give them a hug. It is a fun sport, you can’t lose at it.

I’ll never forget the first time I went scuba diving. It really is like experiencing a whole new world. It truly is a magical life changing experience.

I’ll also never forget the first time I took LSD…..for exactly the same reasons as scuba diving :P.

First time I got flipped out of a raft in a class 5 rapid.

I sure remember my first cigarette.

I haven’t smoked in 23 years, but I once had a 2½ pack a day habit, and I enjoyed it. However, not one smoke ever felt or tasted as good as that first one when I was a sophomore in college.

First time giving birth. I had a hilarious labor, despite the pain, and then there she was, my first baby girl. I remember my other labors and deliveries fairly well, but some details get mixed up. That first one is seared into my memory, though.

When I first rode a bicycle on my own.

A couple of things I’ll give you a list and then I’ll tell the stories.
1. Feeding the ducks with my Mom.
2. Pub games and alcohol consumption (apparently)
3. Peeing up a tree (TMI but there’s a reason I recall that story)
4. Eating chocolate.
5. Playing the piano.

1. Feeding the ducks with Mom.
My Mom and I used to live a couple of miles away from a park which had large patches of grass and pathways lined by trees and a really huge pond in the middle of it. On Saturdays when my single Mom wasn’t working, we’d go to that park and feed the ducks. I used to love doing that. I sometimes went with my Grandma too whilst Mom was probably out trying to get her love life back into existence (I imagine). That park still exists and every time I’ve passed the place I’ve often thought it would be nice just for me and Mom to go back to the park and feed the ducks, just like we used to when I was a kid.

2. Pub games and alcohol consumption.

My estranged Father was in the Army, and rarely I’d go and see him. When I did manage to get to spend a weekend with him we would go to the Sergeant’s Mess (kind of like a pub for officers if people aren’t too sure – at the time my Dad was a Sergeant Major), and I’d played darts for the first time in that place. I also got stabbed in the leg by one of the darts as I’d thrown it, and it dinged off the metal framing. It wasn’t a big deal but I remember it well. I don’t remember drinking small amounts of Guinness when I went, which is what my Dad swears blind he did – and I can’t say I’m surprised if it’s true lol.
One story (off-topic but still connected to the Mess), is that when I was probably four or five, apparently I’d offered to help the barmaid wash up, so I went round gathering all the supposed empties, and drinking the contents of any that weren’t. I don’t believe that story, but I do vaguely recall washing up at the Mess in my very, very much younger years.
My Mother would have a fit if she knew what me and Dad got up to. Crap Dad, but he’s good for a laugh every now and then.
3) Now for the TMI one..peeing up a tree. Again, still a very old story, but I remember it well. I was still a little kid at the time. My Dad was indoors at his living quarters, and outside the living quarters were a couple of lawns that were communal property between an almost cubed area of houses, I was desperate for a pee, so I went for one against a tree (too much information I know) but when some of the kids I would hang out with saw what I was doing (I swear I wasn’t being blatant about it) they were all “Ummm” (as they usually do to highlight what a horridly bad thing you just did lol) “We’re telling on you.” These kids ran up to my Dad’s door and when my Dad answered, the kids told him what I’d done. He was as cool as a cucumber about it (seriously, any catastrophe or mishap to ever occur he’s the go-to guy for calmness under pressure, no wonder he was an officer), came up to me whilst I was still out playing with the other kids, took me to one side, knelt down to almost my level and said “You know if you gotta go, you have to come inside and use the toilet ok? I don’t want those telltale little jerks to come up to me and tell me about your toilet habits – I don’t think it’s a big deal, but for the sake of my sanity and yours, please pee in the toilet, not against the tre ok?”
My Dad was brilliant because when I was a kid I could make my own choices – we have a habit of learning the hard way – Dad was just a guiding voice toward the right direction or way of doing things. Mom on the other hand…not so much. I only remember that first pee up a tree cause of how my Dad didn’t over-react like my Mother so easily would have done.

4. Eating chocolate. My earliest memory of eating chocolate was when my Mom got me a little dispenser kind of toy, looked like a vending machine and it was red and had little windows. You’d have to put those little rectangular pieces of (obviously appropriately wrapped) chocolates into it, and then you’d lock it up, and you’d have to put a coin in the thing to get a chocolate out of it. I guess that was my Mom’s way of teaching me that if you want something good in terms of material possessions – even if it’s a short term consumable possession – you have to pay for it. We sat together and we cleared that thing out between us a good few times in one day.

5. Playing the piano.
My Mom played the piano when she was a kid, ended up playing for a Church at some point. We had this piano for over a decade it was there from day one as far as I was concerned, and I would tinker with that piano. I remember vaguely being fascinated by the sounds it made and the different notes that you could get out of it – even though they’re all just a b c d e f and g – I took it up later and my first music teacher from when I was still going to infant school gave me her piano in her will when she died last year from bone cancer. She happened to be my Grandpa’s wife for a good few years before she became ill. She recorded something on the piano (it’s an electric one but still, worth a fortune and sounds and almost looks like the real deal) and I dare not record over it because she was passionate about music, and occasionally I just switch it on and play that recording to listen to it, thinking that maybe I’ll end up being able to play like that (I’m still learning the guitar, so one thing at a time). I don’t know what the piece of music is called unfortunately, but it is a very good piece of music. I think it might be a classical one but I really must stop now, this is a friggin’ book almost. Sorry about the lengthy waffling.

The first time I almost rolled a tractor over sticks in my mind pretty well. I was raking hay across a fairly steep hillside and dropped the front downhill tire into a woodchuck hole. The right side tires came off the ground a good 12 inches. And I had no ROPS. I had an instant fuck in my mind and then the tire push out of the hole and the tires settled back down. I could still take you to the field and show you the exact spot where it happened.

The first time I felt my first child move inside me. It felt so strange and magical, I got teary-eyed, and I called about 20 people just to tell them I felt her move. It’s a beautiful memory.

The first time I visited the Scottish Highlands will go down as being one of the best times of my life. Loch Ness took my breath away then and it still does now, I can’t imagine loving a place as much as I love it there.

First time I saw my little sister. I was 3. I remember my dad picking me up so I could see in the crib. I distinctly remember thinking “What is all the fuss over THAT?”

When my son was born, he was a premie, so he had to stay in the hospital for a few days longer than his Mom. In the hospital, my daughter (1½) and step daughter (8) were not allowed in the room to see him or hold him. They had to look through the window, and they both were miserable about it.
When we finally got to bring him home, I remember standing at the front door, trying to work the key, with the family there with me, and my youngest daughter giggling because she knew NOW she could see him properly.