First Kiss

(This blog entry is being entered in a contest sponsored by Michelle at Scribbit, a mother of 4 living in Alaska.  I had the opportunity to hear her speak at the BlogHer08 conference last month and found the info she shared really helpful.  Her site offers many tips to new bloggers -- thank you!!! -- as well as crafts and parenting insights and is definitely one to check out).

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My husband and I will from time to time shake our heads in disbelief and think, “How did we get here?” –  HERE being a house full of noise laughter and chaos kids running around, constantly underfoot.  It goes without saying we feel blessed, but occasionally we can’t help but wonder how two people that you wouldn’t necessarily pair up together crossed paths, with the end result being HERE, now, this noisy, chaotic, wonderful moment in time.

In some ways, it is quite simple how we ended up here together.  It was the kiss.  That first kiss – the one that shook the earth like only a LA trembler could and permanently altered the course our lives were on.

Had that kiss been anything other than magical we would have said good night and gone our separate ways.  Perhaps that is what he was hoping for.  In some ways, it would have been easier.  It could have been easily written off to a moonlit night, some great music and one too many White Russians in that smoky little French café after the concert.  When we ran into each other again, we would just smile and wave hi, talk of the weather and go about our business, our separate business, and that would be that. 

But Fate had other ideas.  Instead that kiss on the front steps, sheltered by a canopy of overgrown fichus and eucalyptus trees, confirmed what had been bubbling at the surface for weeks:  chemistry…magical, intoxicating chemistry.  Bam!  The future was changed forever. Fate wasn’t messing around. 

I was well aware of how special that chemistry was.  It is a rare find actually, and people who tell you differently are either oblivious to it or continually lucky in that department.  I wasn’t one of them.  I had kissed enough toads in my single days to know very few of them turned into a prince.  I too had hopes – hopes that the passion now building inside me wouldn’t be extinguished by an awkward meeting of the lips, hopes that this time would be different than the others, hopes that I still could experience that weak-in-the-knees feeling for someone (and not that my spark had been doused out – permanently!!). 

A long stretch with no chemistry, no magic, will do that to you – make you doubt yourself and any romantic possibilities you may encounter.  Your heart hardens a bit, in self-preservation I think.  It then makes it that much harder to find that connection with someone for now you’ve realized just how extraordinary finding that connection truly is.  And we all know the more desperately you want some thing and try to grab onto it, the more elusive it becomes, slipping away out of your reach. 

Even with all that, I wasn’t nervous as we stood there, slowly moving closer and closer to each other – merely curious.  I was feeling carefree, caught up in the moment of this lazy August night.  At the concert, I had been singing in his ear; he had had his hand on my knee.  Our friends were oblivious to what was happening; I felt the signals we were sending off were louder than the songs we were all listening to.  My skin felt on fire every time he brushed up against it.  I was giddy and drunk – not so much by the drinks (although they helped) but by the music and moonlight and his subtle sweet smell. 

And so then, on those front porch steps, we kissed.  And it was magical, and passionate and promising – it was everything a first kiss should be.  It showed me I was still alive, I still had that spark inside me – it just took a prince (THIS prince) to get it fired up again.  It muddled up everything, changed all our plans, but ultimately left no doubt that Fate was working hard at bringing two people together. 

11 years and two kids later, this Zen Mama Wannabe still feels the magic of that night, of his lips as they moved in to touch mine, and the sparks that flew up and ignited a fire that we were powerless to resist. Ah yes, the magic of a kiss – that first kiss - the one that can, if you’re fortunate enough, forever change your life. 

Post-note:  3 years after that First Kiss, we had this one to seal the deal.

Comments

[LarkLady]

It's so important to take time to remember those moments of romance, especially when our lives are caught up in the day-to-day details of family life. Family life has its own set of magical moments, but it's good to keep in mind those earth-shattering encounters that brought us together in the first place.

Let's hope you're never to busy to take time to keep creating those specials moments for just the two of you. Find a babysitter and go out on a date with your Prince… and create some new magic! And if it isn’t the same as it was way back then, well, at least you don’t have to worry about wasting the evening with a Toad ;-)

[Michelle at Scribbit]

Oh that's funny--we've had similar conversations shaking our heads about all the things that could have made it so we never got together and missed each other. Life is good with Andrew :)

[callieandbatido]

Ah, the magic. I often wonder where it went. Not to say that it doesn't show it's head at times, just not often enough for my (and most likely my husbands) liking.

[Mozi Esme's Mommy]

Yeah for the magic! I'm glad you guys still have it!

[Zen Mama Wannabe]

Yeah, 11 years later the magic is still there....but often buried under the kids' toys and the laundry and the stack of bills waiting to be paid, etc. Important for me/us to remember it IS there - and to treat it with the reverence it deserves. Ok - note to self... :)