As our children grow, spread their wings, fly… the memories of their childhood filter into our days. Some stories so sweet that they add tears to your cooking, often those tears help your ironing, usually the tears soon turn to a warm love that coats you lovingly. This is the joy of being parent: Loving another to life and letting them go– even when every ounce in you might want to keep them wrapped in your arms like a baby.
Does a child every grow up to his mother?
Inside a Mother's heart I don't think they do. And that is a holy gift. A mother can hold her child like a baby seed deep within her life and water it often with her unending love.
Two of my most favorite memories regarding kissing and Sacha (20) and Chelsea (23) are:
French Kissing
Sacha ten years old:
"Mommy, do I have the right to kiss a girl?" Sacha asked me with a semi-hopeful look, on his sweet little boy-boy face.
"The right, to kiss a girl? Is there a wrong way to kiss a girl?" Teasingly I winked with my words, though it wasn't funny to Sacha… changing gears quickly, I continued on with a serious tone, "Son, are you asking me permission to kiss a girl?"
"Uh-huh, is it possible? Do I have the right to do that?" He was serious! (I love how French words translate sometimes!)
I said to Sacha that famous day,
"Maybe you could start by holding her hand?"
His reply was, "Mommy, her arm is broken."
"Sacha doesn't she have two hands, is the other hand broken too?"
"Mommy, she wants to kiss me, not hold hands! She said, "Sacha, kiss me!" She broke up with her other boyfriend because he was too shy!"
"Gee! I never asked my Mom permission to kiss anyone. How do I respond to that? As a friend I would say, Yeah kiss her! As your Mom… ( oh these are those tender memorable moments that make childbirth worth it!) Your first kiss is the one you will remember the rest of your life, it is a freeze-frame in time. You only have one first kiss to give…If you want to kiss her, do it with all sincerity, in a moment worthy of the memory!"
"So that means I have the right?" Sacha repeated.
"Yes, you have the right." I said in plain talk.
The days that followed had me asking Sacha when he returned from school, "Did you kiss her?" Each day there was a different reason why he hadn't. The kissable girl was either chewing gum, or there were too many friends around, or the bell rang for class to start… days turned into an empty week.
Finally, with tons of friends around, the bell ringing, and gum in her mouth, she grabbed Sacha and stole his first kiss!
"Did you like it? " I wanted to know.
"Our teeth hit and then she put her tongue in my mouth…"
"STOP! I don't need to know more!"
——————
Chelsea over five years ago:
The Art of Making Coffee Nearly Five Years Ago
The Theme: A Mother/ Daughter moment.
The Stage: The daughter's (Chelsea) studio.
First Scene: The Coffee Machine
Daughter shows Mother her new coffee maker. Mother does not like coffee, but drinks it to be with daughter who does. Conversation full and delicious. Daughter tells Mother about the coffee machine.
Second Scene: Conversation and Coffee
Daughter: Tells Mother how she got the coffee machine and about the friend who gave it to her.
-Daughter chatters about the coffee machine, then comes back to original subject matter: "…Even though he doesn't drink coffee he knows I do and thought I would enjoy it. Isn't that sweet?"
Mother: Zeros in on one word and one word only: "He."
Scene Three:
Mother: Who is wide-eyed, curious, and with an agenda…wants to know about that one word…"He."
Mother's First Line: "I'll have one spoon of sugar please and (as the Mother stirs the sugar into her coffee,) …is the friend who gave you the coffee machine a Boyfriend, or just a boy who is a friend?"
Daughter (who drinks her coffee straight black) says: A boy who is a friend.
Mother: Really?
Last Scene:
Daughter: Tells Mother that the boy and her are very best friends. How they study together. How he helps her since he is brilliant in Math, and that she helps him with his English.
Daughter continues deeper: "One evening while we were doing homework," she tells her Mother, "We both looked up at the same time, our faces were this close (daughter puts her face right up to her Mother's face…Mother wants to grab her daughter and kiss her like a baby and never let her go…but Mother resists and tries not to cry.) we leaned into kiss but pulled back instantly."
Mother surprised and gasps, "Why? Why didn't you kiss each other?"
Daughter: Explains to Mother that it would change everything and that they value their friendship too much to risk losing it over being boyfriend and girlfriend with each other.
Mother: Scratches head, though understands and drinks the coffee that isn't that bad after all.
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I loved your first kiss stories, so tender, romantic, sweet… and most of them I wanted to know more. Perfect for the days before Valentines! And some of yours were like mine, stolen and not so fun.
The winners of an antique linen towel are:
Michelle W.
Chico Sue
Marlis
Ester in Wisconsin
Smee
Please send me your address by email.
If you haven't, and when you have time please read yesterday's comments… you won't be disappointed!
Today's giveaway… an antique aperitif glass (similar to the ones above).
The question to answer in the comment section (where I will randomly pick some winners) is:
If you had a superpower what would it be and why?
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