My sleepy eyes stirred open, the morning was hot and fine, and the birds were singing, the day was June the 16th... my birthday!!!

I got up my first thought was that I had now actually reached double figures, I was 10 I couldn’t believe it, not nine anymore but the wonderful figure of 10, it just rolled of my tounge.

6 Months earlier

To understand while I was feeling such joy on my tenth birthday we have to travel back to the 6 months before hand. My brother had not long just started to play his drums, and because of this mum and dad got him a drum kit, which he was ecstatic with. I saw this and thought "yeah I could do something like that"

I was soon talking to my dad and he said would i like to play anything, I immediately replied with yes and then promptly said I want to learn the saxophone. This wasn’t an act of jealousy because my brother had a drum kit, this was something in which I was really interested in. In the end my dad came out with the famous phrase

I will talk to your mother...

So anyway back to my birthday, I bombed downstairs and there it was all wrapped nicely in its case, I was shaking with so much excitement that I was practically shouting at my mum and dad. Dad opened the case and revealed a Blessing student Saxophone, My eyes were just like round saucers, it was lovely and so shiny (of course I would rather have my sax scruffy and dented nowadays)

I have good memories of that saxophone which I played for most of playing life untill I upgraded to a Yamaha 32. Unfortunately on the first day I had it, we discovered that the bell of the saxophone was seriously bent in the wrong direction *sniffle* I only got to play it once.

However I was soon playing it again for practising for all i was worth, after 2 years the little sax was now full of dents, scratches, keys were falling off, and I was having a hard job of holding it together. It was dying, it had had enough and was packing and getting ready for the trip to saxophone heaven.

I have a lot to thank that saxophone for, that saxophone was the foundation for my musical career and with the position I’m in it seems it held me in good stead.