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It was a dark night with a slight chill in the air and the anticipation that something was about to happen. This has been the moment that this young couple have been waiting for. Is this the time? Has the moment come? There was excitement in the air as they waited for the arrival. Scared, nervous they listened to the beating of their hearts like a drum echoing through a cave. They grabbed one another as out of the darkness they heard a sound. They had never heard this sound before. With sweat beading on their brows and hands clasped together there is a loud scream and then they hear..............."You have a baby boy"!
Ok. It did not happen like that, but it sure sounded cool. I had this little movie playing in my head as I wrote that opening dialoge. April 19, 1971 Andrew Wilfred Borden Martin was born into this world. Yes, I would imagine that some of you may be laughing at the whole name, but let me explain. You see, on the Martin side of the family my Grandfather was CARL Borden Martin, my dad is CARL Paul Martin, my uncle is CARL Ray Burgess and my only male cousin is CARL Martin Burgess and then I came along (drum roll please)............. Andrew! Yep Andrew. My mom would not call me Carl. Now do I blame her? NO!!!!!! So she named me Andrew (the one, the orginal or maybe a name out of the Bible because I was so Angelic) Wilfred (that is my mom's dad) Borden (the middle name of my dad's dad) Martin (because it's good to be King..... ok I made that up).
I was born into a hard working family. The Martin family owned and operated a school bus company called "Martin's Bus Service" which is now owned by my older sister, Lisa and my brother in law, Sean. My grandfather started the company years ago because of a demand by kids living in the country and needing to get to school. It started with a pick-up truck with benches in the back, then moved to a Volkswagen Van and then to the largest independent operator in our county to now, the largest independent operator in Ontario. Papa & Gram ran the company with help from my mom & dad and Uncle Carl. Lots of hours were spent making sure buses were ready to run and sick drivers had someone to cover their shift. On top of all of that work, we also had a farm. We have 3 houses on the 500 acre farm plus a garage to fix the buses. Papa & Gram lived in one house, I lived next door with my mom & dad and sister, and my uncle and aunt and two cousins lived next door to us. I now live in the house that my uncle and aunt lived in. My mom & dad still live next door and one door over is still Gram at 92 years old.
You may be wondering: when did music come into this picture? Well, my uncles had a gospel quartet. My other cousins had a gospel trio. So, as you can imagine with all of that talent, family get togethers always ended up with singing. As well, there was church where we would all gather again to sing. From the time I was very little I remember cutting my teeth on harmony. My mom & dad would go to Toronto to Massey Hall for the All Night Gospel Sings. I can remember being four or five years old and being dressed just like one of the groups I used to watch. We had a big record player in our house and my mom and dad would buy record after record of all these different groups like The Hemphills, The Singing Goff's, The Blackwood Brothers Quartet, The Happy Goodman Family and J.D. Sumner and the Stamps. Now, the last group I mentioned might ring a bell with some people as they were a quartet that backed up Elvis Presley when he toured. I was introduced to the King of Rock and Roll. Everything changed for me. The beat, the charisma, the way he would move you from tears to laughter to making you get to your feet to dance inspired me to want to become an entertainer like that. So there I would be sitting on the floor in the family room listening to records of Elvis, and the other groups of course.
When school was done and Scooby Doo was over on T.V. ,I did chores and then helped out with work around the bus company. Summers would be spent getting 12,000 square bails of hay in the barns for winter and then all four grandkids (my sister, two cousins and myself) would all start painting, cleaning and getting buses ready for the school year. Everyday was an event because of the lunch in my Gram's kitchen, with all my family and anyone hired to work sitting down for a full meal, and I do mean full. You would see fifteen people sitting around that table for lunch and everyone eating just as much as they could and the food never ever, ever ran out. I still remember those days like they were yesterday: growing up on the family farm, cutting hay, feeding cattle, working on buses, eating around Gram's kitchen table and listening to the records while sitting on my mom and dad's floor. In fact, to this day, I can still go to my mom and dad's house and see that old record player and all those old records. The memories of childhood; I cherish them more and more each year as time passes. That was a great begininng for me. What's up next? Growing up and finding my beat in music.
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