First Kiss (part one)

May 1963 - A simple newspaper could bring so much joy.

When I was ten years old, I had crush on a classmate of mine. To my eyes, Iris was as cute as the day was long. My fantasies ran from us laughing together in class, to us even holding hands while we were walking. None of this blossomed into reality though because I was just too shy. Fear of being rejected was the biggest problem. Coming in as a close second was not knowing how to approach the whole subject of "achieving a girlfriend." It all seemed so easy for my parents. They always seemed so happy. "Where was my second half?" I'd say to myself. As the bell rang and everyone walked out of class, I found that Iris was getting ready to pass close by to me. I drummed up all my courage and dared to smile in her direction. She kept her eyes down and walked right by. Could it be that she didn't notice or maybe she just didn't like me. I watched as her ponytails walked out of the classroom and she never turned around. At first, I was disappointment but soon it didn't matter. I found myself to be totally smitten and there could never be another. Or so I thought.

One Saturday afternoon, my mother took my brother and I to visit a lady that I had never met before. This new friend and my mother sat at the dining table and they proceeded to laugh and run their mouths a mile a minute. In contrast, I sat uncomfortably on the couch between my eleven year old brother, Louis and this mystery girl who had to be the daughter of my mother's friend. M.G. (mystery girl) was sitting close by on my right and of course, I was feeling awkward. The thing that saved me from embarrassment was the three coloring books and giant box of 64 Crayola crayons on the coffee table in front of us. Lou and M.G. were making a natural mess of their pages but this situation was child's play for the artist. As the two of them spent most of their time attempting to choose the right colors, I showed then both how to use a darker color crayon to outline around the lines to add more definition and then how neatly I colored within those new lines.

"That's nice" M.G. said. "How do you do that?"

I proudly gathered my thoughts and prepared to give a smart sounding answer but my more experienced brother was much quicker on the draw.

"Oh, he always colors good" Lou said. That's because he knows how to draw.

"Please draw me something" M.G. begged while she pulled on my right arm.

My ego was thoroughly inflated now. I felt like I had a new fan. In the clear corner of the page, I drew a picture of a little girl holding a pot of pretty flowers. I then quickly added colors that seemed to match. M.G.'s eyes got big as I finished and she grabbed my arm again.

"That is so cute" she said and then she gave me a quick peck on my cheek.

I'm not sure which shade of brown I was turning but it felt like beet red. I nervously glanced over to my mother but she nor her friend seemed to notice what had just happened. My brother did though. He thought the whole thing was hilarious. He kept one eye on the two women who were talking about dress patterns or something and the other on us. He quietly spoke.

"I think she likes you, Lloyd" he chuckled. He then picked up a newspaper that was also laying on the table in front of us. He proceeded to hold up the paper wide so that it blocked the view of the three of us from the parents.

"Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss" my brother kept saying to the both of us.

I turned my head to look at M.G. and to my shock, she pecked me flat on the mouth! I gathered up my courage and decided to pucker my lips. With my brother urging us on, we pecked about six or seven more times. By this time, Lou was cracking up with laughter and trying to hold the newspaper as steady as possible. This caught the attention of my mother.

"What are you boys doing? Stop acting so silly. We're getting ready to leave soon so behave."

Louis put down the newspaper and we all giggled at each other. Five minutes later, the three of us were headed home. As we walked through the cool, fresh air, I had only one thought. "I was in love!" I had had my first kiss and she was truly my girlfriend." This feeling of floating lasted for about two weeks until me and my mother bumped into M.G. and her mother on the street. To my shock, M.G. didn't say a word to me. It was like she didn't even recognize me. As the two mothers said goodbye, I felt crushed. How could my girlfriend treat me like this? Funny how that crushed feeling only lasted for a day. Iris began to look cute again but then again, so did a lot of other girls. Growing up was beginning to be fun.

To be continued......

Like what you read and want to read more?  Check out my website EndlessPerception.com

Trip to Museum of Natural History

April 1994 - I Want To Hold Your Hand

Being blessed with two wonderful and healthy daughters helped me to appreciate how fragile and precious life is. Being blessed with two daughters that actually listened to what I had to say is where the second miracle started. They were growing up with no problems (well, few anyway) and were always respectful of adults. It was hard to hear stories of how many issues occurred between other parents and their children. Sometimes, a bit of love and understanding can make a world of difference in the child's future. This is my simple story of how I found that to be true.

When my youngest daughter was about six years old, she and I went on a trip to the Museum of Natural History with a few of the classes at her school. Myself and other parents were the extra staff who were watching over the little darlings. The bus ride to the museum was happy and conversational and I felt like the world's greatest dad being able to participate in this part of my child's life. Little did I know that the party would be a bit different than expected.

Soon after we arrived there, we broke up into groups of five kids, a parent and a teacher. In addition to my lovely daughter and three other adorable children, I had been selected to watch over a five-year old boy who had more energy than all the other children combined.

As we walked pass the bull elephants of North America, he made it clear that his curiosity was more important to him than his safety. I was helping my daughter to read the nearby plague when I realized that he was trying to see if the pachyderms were real. I lifted him back over to our side of the guard rail and explained to him why his actions were not appropriate. He looked up at me with a huge grin, shook his head and gave me a big "Okay." It was obvious that he was not taking me seriously. I was glad that he was safe and we walked on.

The well informed teacher in our group recited amazing details about the 94-foot long, 21,000 lb. female blue whale, as we walked underneath. All of the kids were attentively listening, that is, except for Mr. Mischief who thought it would be more entertaining to run around in circles, as he made airplane noises. I found myself chasing him instead of assisting with the other kids. This time, I let him know that ice cream would be waiting for him if he settled down.The thought of it did calm him for a short while but my reminding him soon made little difference.

We made our way up to the second floor, to the South African section.  My attempts to slow him down by holding  his hand, only made him quickly pull away in order to get loose. My smooth talking and bribery were not working. Frustration was rising. I'd hardly said two words to my own daughter. She seemed to be having fun with the other kids but this was not how I had planned to spend the day.

As we grew closer to the assortment of antelopes who seemed to raise their heads as we approached, the devil's spawn announced that he was going back downstairs to see the whale. I was by now fed up and I resorted to a tactic that I never had to use with my kids. I told him that I was going to hold his hand and that he was going to stay with me, like it or not. He laughed as I took his hand but stopped laughing when he realized that I wasn't letting go. For the first five minutes, he squirmed and complained but I would not release my grip. As we continued to walk with group, he slowly calmed.

After a half-hour of peace and quiet, I was feeling stunned but tried not to show it. I even let his hand go as a test and he actually took it back. This shocked the crap out of me but I was happy that my reasoning had worked. Seemed like he just needed someone to do what they said they would, meaning stricter rules, promises being kept and all that. For the rest of the afternoon, he stayed at my side and followed my directions. He turned out to be a nice kid (at least, as long as he was with me, anyway).

Like what you read and want to read more? Check out my website EndlessPerceptions.com