At the risk of being accused of boasting

glamma - how lovely to have lived so near to those lovely boys. ga - I agree with you. I sometimes wonder how I survived my childhood but I did and I am still here and, despite some more traumas as an adult, healthy and having some lovely times. Mishap - yes we are lucky.

It is interesting that so many people have achieved so much much from "ordinary" beginnings. Could it be that the education we were lucky enough to receive fostered opportunity for everyone? I certainly am grateful for the opportunities that I was given - even though I hated school! And my parents were clear that girls should have the same chances as boys, which was not the case so much previously. We are a lucky lot!

KatyK I think we probably had similar backgrounds in some ways. I sometimes marvel that a girl with my background could have achieved what I have: things that others may regard as actually quite 'normal'. I have been to university and so have my children, I own a house that I could never have imagined living in (not posh at all, but a big Edwardian home), I am still happily married after almost 28 years, my siblings too have 'done well' and we have worked hard to have successful careers. Nothing special in any of that, but sometimes I wonder at how my life has turned out when the beginnings were so inauspicious.
I'll need to ponder on my three things.

katy we where very lucky indeed,we had all the groups on there at the time Gerry & Pacemakers/Searchers etc all good times had by all,up until Linda Mac died Paul & her used to come to visit his family who live not far from me on the New Brighton side every New Year and spend time at our local pub on the Prom and we always ended the night with a singsong of somekind,he has never been since his marriage to Heather Mills such a shame,mind you his family must be getting on in age now and may have moved.

glamma - how fantastic to have seen the Beatles in the cavern. I have never kept any of my memorabilia from my Beatles days apart from the photo I have with me sitting behind them on stage. I threw the whole lot away (including their autographs). It never occurred to me to keep them . Yes Venice is truly magical, we have been a few times. It is VERY expensive but you can find cheap little places to eat in the back streets. Mishap - I can't imagine singing at the Symphony Hall - how wonderful. It's a lovely concert hall.

KatyK not boasting at all lovely memories to treasure,my pals and I used to go to The Cavern every lunch time to see the Beatles perform in the early days and we will never forget how we enjoyed the time we spent there,dark smelly and packed out any drinks you bought where warm but we had a ball they where always friendly and gave us tickets for theirr performance at New Brighton wishing now I had kept the stubs from the tickets.I would love to go to venice it has been a wish of mine for many years it seems a magical place to go and visit.

I went to Venice with my 3 DDs for my 50th - a week long hen party! We did the obligatory gondola ride, but the shine was somewhat tarnished and the historical ambience marred by the gondolier getting out his mobile and chatting to his wife to tell her what time she could expect him home for tea!

Three things I have done of which I am most proud (and feel privileged to have experienced):

- conducting a choir of 250 people in a Three Choirs concert (3 times!!! - and another opportunity to do so next year - how lucky is that!).
- singing in Birmingham Symphony Hall in a gospel concert - wonderful fun!!
- seeing one of my DGC born - unforgettable!

The first two stem from the fact that an inspirational teacher in my (very basic and overcrowded) state primary school noticed that I had a voice and encouraged me every step of the way - without her these exciting things would never have happened. Thank you Miss Mathias.

I've always hated boasting and have never thought I have anything to boast about, so if I tell someone that I've done something nice I almost have to apologise for it! Strange but true.

Hey KatyK - what a very British/English approach to such positive memories, to apologise for 'boasting'. So not! Great memories come from special experiences - and keep us going on the grey days

Such lovely memories for us all. Rosequartz - I saw them about 5 times in the '60s. On one occasion I had a similar experience to your Chris Montez one. With me it was Mary Wells. Poor lady - in the end she said 'OK I'm going, I'll leave you to your Beatles'.

I bought a Chris Montez record Rosequartz and I can hear it in the back of my mind now. I think it went 'come on everybody let's dance......'

I think Dusty Springfield was support act with the Beatles, she had an enormous back combed hair style and a 'ton' of mascara - happy days.

ps How I would like to have seen a petrified forest. What an experience!

I saw the Beatles in Wolverhampton in (I think) 1963 when they were the supporting group for Chris Montez and Tommy Roe. They were so popular that the audience wouldn't listen to Chris Montez, they kept stamping their feet and shouting 'we want the Beatles!'. I regret not going to get their autographs, but had to catch the coach home.

Katy that is not boasting at all and it's good to hear that you still hold those memories dear.
I consider myself fortunate in that my work took me to all manner of places which I would never have gone if travelling alone and paying for the privelidge but one of my lasting memories is finding a petrified forest deep in the Libyan desert and bringing some of the petrified wood home, which I still have on my hearth. Probably a very unglamourous activity but I was in awe of the remains of a forest millions of years old and of the stone age. As a contrast a few hundred miles away on the coast I came accross Leptis Magna probably the finest Roman Ruins I have yet to come accross.
I guess memories cost nothing so whoever coined the phrase 'the best things in life are free' was a very wise person indeed.
As silly as it may sound another lasting memory is a 'haircut' in Abu Dhabi, in the days long before the building started. It was a wonderful, exhillarating and uplifting experience and only cost a couple of dirhams. Needless to say it wasn't just a haircur but a full head, face, neck massage and god knows what else with scented towells etc. Never had anything like it since, not even there.

for you all

How can that be boasting? You are not describing anything that you have achieved or owned, just outlined three happy experiences. Nothing like happy memories is there?

Gosh. You are all so lovely. I added to the thread '3 things I have never done' and one or two people said maybe we should have a '3 things I have done' but one or two considered it may seem boasting. Come on, everyone, what have you done that you never thought you would. It was a competition win, sitting next to the Beatles. I have a photo of me (and about 20 other people) and them which I have had blown up and put up in my hall. Attention seeking or what?

I was recruited to be a 'person' on a programme called Identity hosted by Donny Osmond and standing next to Tessa Sanderson, was eliminated early on and never actually saw me on TV but my son did! A weird experience.

I saw the Beatles when they came to Birmingham in the 1960s. They had bouncers walking up and down the aisles with batons threatening us if we got out of our seats. The screaming was so loud I didn't know which songs they were singing - fab night.

You were lucky sitting on the stage KatyK.

We lived through a great era in music during the 1960s - I still dance around the house to the music of the time.

Katy how lovely.

You are reminding me of a Crosby, Stills, Nash song "Have you ever ridden horses in a rainstorm, or led a lion through a busy street bazaar?"

Fantastical experiences.

Wonderful, Katy.

When we went to Venice our gondolier offered to take us to the places tourists didn't see. There followed a romantic meander past the rear entrances of derelict factories, oodles of graffiti and litter, and a smattering of dead pigeons on window sills.

What a lovely thing to read Katy thank you so much for sharing. I am a little bit envious not having done any of them (the nearest I got to Venice was breaking my nose in a fall on the day we arrived) but I think you deserved to have the pleasure of all three xx

Katy that's lovely. I'm glad for you that you've had such good experiences in your life. Perhaps they help balance out the bad ones.

Thank you Nonu - you too

Much kisses to you KATY !