Do you remember your first kiss? And I am not talking about that make out kiss at some party or a dare kiss. I am talking about that first kiss which was not anticipated, the kiss from out of the blue. It is the kiss where your lips touch another person’s lips for the first time. It is the kiss delivered in your age of innocence or your age of discovery from someone who is not family. Yes, that kiss.
When I was seven years old, I was given my first kiss by a girl who lived down the street from my grandparents’ house. She might have been my age or maybe a bit older, not sure. But she often came by our apartment house where my mom and I lived, which was next to my grandparents’ house. We would play outside, climb the apple tree, and she would go with me to my little farm garden to see what I was growing and sometimes help me with my garden tasks. And she was very pretty. I have never considered myself cute. I had big dumbo ears and bunny front teeth.
I often wondered why she would come by to play with me. Maybe it was because I was the only kid close by that was near her age. Maybe because I was a boy and she was a girl. Maybe she was a tomboy. Whatever the reason, it was good to have someone to play with.
Between my grandparents’ house and our little apartment house was this big apple tree with big, thick branches made for climbing. It was also full of fruit, not yet ready to harvest. And the apple tree provided lots of shade when the sun was out and it was hot. Together, we would climb the tree and sit on this one large branch cooling off from the heat of the day in the shade and letting the gentle breeze pass by us while rustling the leaves.
My grandpa would tell me stories about the history of the apple tree that may or may not have been fully truthful. But that is what grandpa’s do, tell stories that excite you and your imagination. His story about this apple tree was incredible. He said that the seeds for this tree came from Johnny Appleseed. In Western North Carolina there were lots of stories about him. As I grew older, and after my grandpa’s passing, I did some research and read the history of Johnny Appleseed. I learned that he never really came this far south. No matter, any story from my grandpa always had a way of being real when I was a kid. I am sure that your grandparents’ stories were just as exciting when you were young.
One afternoon she came over to play. We decided to climb the apple tree like we had done so many times before. While we were sitting on our favorite branch, I looked at her and she looked at me. I didn’t think much of it, but she leaned over and put her lips onto mine. My eyes were open looking at her, and her eyes were open too. And our touching of the lips was over quickly. As she pulled her face away from mine, she smiled and giggled. I think I smiled back while being amazed at what just happened. This was my first kiss. It was an innocent kiss on a hot, sunny, beautiful afternoon in Western North Carolina. And it was in this special apple tree.
I think we sat on the branch in silence for a little while after that kiss. We then climbed back down the apple tree and looked at each other for a brief moment, I was still feeling that something special had just happened to me. I felt excitedly happy. She then turned and skipped away down our driveway and then disappeared down the street heading to her house. I think I felt a little different after she left. I just kept thinking how pretty she was and that now I had a story to add to my grandpa’s story about this apple tree.
I still think back to this memory as one of my favorites from my childhood. Anytime when I think about how life has challenged me, I just think about my first kiss from my age of innocence. And the image of this memory is very clear in my mind. I see me and her sitting on the branch with our feet and legs dangling down. The green leaves rustling in the afternoon breeze with the bright sunlight dappling through the leaves. Her in her dress and me in my shorts and t-shirt.
So, I am pretty sure that you have a first kiss memory too. And when that first kiss happened and where it happened. Was it in your age of innocence? Or was it when you were beginning to blossom in your preteen years or in your teenage years? Maybe it was after high school, or even as a young adult when it happened.
No matter the timing or location, it will always be a First Kiss…
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