I find writing this a very strange experience.
Especially the 'introduce yourself' post.
Having never participated before, in any online social media, ( a friend of mine told me about Steem before the hive 'break up') and so I thought that it was about time that I put pen to paper, and tell you my own story.
It has been a very colorful story so far, and I hope that you'll enjoy the varied snippets of my life that I'd like to share.
I'm a typical Irishman!
I can talk forever, and I have a million different stories to tell you.
So I'll begin with a trip down memory lane...it's as clear in my mind, as though it was yesterday.
MY INTRODUCTION.
I'm now my 7th decade on this planet, and was born in Dublin city, in early 1957.
Now that I have a lot of time on my hands, I find my mind drifting back to the vivid memories of yesteryear quite often.
Indeed, I sometimes find it easier to recall events from early childhood, than to recall where I've left the car keys!
For example, I can recall the events of November 1963 when John F Kennedy was shot dead quite vividly.
I was 3 months short of my 6th birthday, and I can still recall the reactions of my mother and our neighbors - as clearly as if it was yesterday.
At the time, myself and my playmates had no conception of what the event meant. All we knew was that the whole street was in mourning.
I remember at the time that most houses had a photo of J.F.K. in a prominent position - right next to their religious photos.
The news of his assassination was being passed around from house to house, and the tears and the prayers started.
There was only one T.V. between the 140+ houses on our street! Imagine that?
All the women in the community gathered at that one single house, both inside, outside, and in the garden.
Copious amounts of tea and biscuits being served to everyone, and looking back now, it seems rather funny that the house where everybody gathered was owned by one of only 2 protestant families living on the street!
Here were all these catholic women kneeling and praying to the virgin Mary while, in this staunch protestant's household.
Religious differences were very real, 'back then'.
It seemed very strange to me that the death of the president of the U.S. could unite people of different religious beliefs, yet our own president and political parties, could not seem to.
By the end of the same decade that would all change with the sectarian tensions growing, and the outbreak of what was later to be called 'The Troubles', in Ireland.
To this day I still wonder where the innocence of both the children and the adults went.
In those days everybody was united by a common bond, the need to survive. In those days a knock at the door was more likely to be a neighbors child looking to borrow a cup of sugar or a coin for the gas meter, than a T. V. license inspector. All working class people just struggled to get by from one pay day to the next.
We didn't have big fences surrounding our houses or guard dogs and CCTV protecting our property - We had nothing to steal.
Doors were very seldom locked, and all the people would all a round in a crisis.
Looking back now, I truly believe that the T.V. - which was soon to be a fixture in every house - was the beginning of the communities coming apart.
People became more isolated within their own homes. Daily routines began to revolve around T.V. programs, whereas before, the family sat together at the table to eat meals together and discuss the events of the day.
Everything changes of course, I understand that, and I'm not one to lament about the 'good old day's', but I do find myself asking 'is all 'progress' really that good'?
Communities can be one of the strongest, and warmest bonds, between people, and should be cherished as such.
I really hope the Hive community is something just like that!
Sláinte, everyone. (that is Gaelic for 'good health')