Thought 07JAN2010

MY FIRST KISS, AND THEN SOME
I was a very shy teenager and so was my first boyfriend. We were high school sophomores in a small town. We had been dating for about six months. A lot of sweaty hand-holding, actually watching movies and talking about nothing in particular. We often came close to kissing - we both knew that we wanted to be kissed - but neither of us had the courage to make the first move. Finally, while sitting on my living room couch, he decided to go for it. We talked about the weather (really), then he leaned forward. I put a pillow up to my face to block him! He kissed the pillow. I wanted to be kissed sooooo badly, but I was too nervous to let him get close. So I moved away, down the couch. He moved closer. We talked about the movie (who cared!), he leaned forward again. I blocked him again.

I moved to the end of the couch. He followed, we talked. He leaned ... I stood up! I walked over near the front door and stood there, leaning against the wall with my arms crossed and simply said impatiently. "Well, are you going to kiss me or not?" "Yes", he said. So I stood tall, closed my eyes tight, puckered my lips and faced upwards. I waited ... and waited. (Why wasn't he kissing me?) I opened my eyes, he was coming right at me. I smiled. HE KISSED MY TEETH! I could have died. He left. I wondered if he had told anyone about my clumsy behaviour. Since I was so extremely and painfully shy, I practically hid for the next two years, causing me to never have another date all through high school. As a matter of fact, when I walked down the hallway at school, if I saw him or any other great guy walking towards me, I quickly stepped into the nearest room until he passed. And these were boys I had known since kindergarten.

The first year at college, I went home. I walked into the latest hangout and who do you suppose I see sitting at the bar, but my old kissing partner. I walked over to his bar stool and tapped him on the shoulder. Without hesitation, I took him in my arms, dipped him back over his stool and kissed him with my most assertive kiss.. I sat him up, looked at him victoriously and said, "So there!" He pointed to the lady next to him and said to me, "Mary Jane, I'd like you to meet my wife."
Mary Jane West-Delgado - extracted from 'Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul', Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Kimberly Kirberger, Health Communications, Inc., 1997
Guests bring good luck with them - Kurdish Proverb