I think the first C&C i have ever played when i was 4 year old was Red Alert 1. From time to time i had to sit with parents at work, and was observing dad playing it. When he was out of office, i took his place and played on my own. Got hooked to it pretty quickly.
However when dad brought home PC with Red Alert 2, this is where it started. I still didnt knew english, so playing campaign was 100% of guess what i am supposed to do but after some time i got a hang on it and even managed to play against my dad from time to time. Then i followed every other C&C, replayed older ones. Later on i returned to RA2(YR) which got me hooked to mods. I played modded RA2YR for YEARS, because i didnt felt bored at all. Severals of them downloaded, several of them played, it felt refreshing playing the game which was constantly changed because of community. Later on when i got myself TFD i got hooked to Renegade, then APB.
Im still following modding communities, mostly RA2YR ones. Started from very bottom, now i am here. [Obligatory bragging] Tester for Mentalmeisters [/Obligatory bragging]
C&C is a big part of my life, im thankful for my dad for showing me it.
PS. I consider Generals not as good as people think and SWR productions = band of closedminded bastards. The end!