Two first kisses

You're all very lucky.

I had started a new post several times, and what kept coming out was political. That in itself isn't so much of a problem, as it's something I think about a very great deal, but the post itself was not very organized. I rambled badly in my desperate attempt to condense and clearly state some things that I feel very passionately about at this time. Once I get it organized, I'll let it loose. I can't help it. There are things I must say.

So how are you lucky, then? Clearly, you'll still end up seeing a political post in the future, so where is the good fortune?

Today, my friends, I tell you about my first kiss, an idea suggested by Shanna. But I'm not going to tell you about my FIRST first kiss alone; no, I will tell you about several first kisses. Maybe two. We'll see as this progresses how embarrassed I become with the whole subject.

My very first kiss happened when I was a sophomore. I was sweet sixteen and finally allowed to date, not that anyone was banging down my door or anything. I got to be friends with a group of guys who liked to play a Marvel Comics role-playing game, kind of like Dungeons & Dragons but much less weird and geeky. One of them was a senior, a cute guy I'll call Norm (because it's nothing like his real name) who seemed to always have one girlfriend after another. We started hanging out more and more, usually with one of his friends, so it was never a dating situation. One evening, Norm and his friend, Leo, were over at my house hanging out and watching TV. Some sparks had been flying between Norm and me, and when they left, Leo headed out to the car and Norm lingered on the doorstep for a moment. He claimed later that I kissed him first, but I swear I would never be that forward. I do remember going upstairs after they left and thinking, "Huh. So that's what a kiss feels like." Norm and I dated for about seven months (an eternity in high school, no?) and then I got replaced with the next girl. I had seen the writing on the wall and didn't get my heart broken, however, and we wrote the occasional letter after he went to college.

Fast forward to 1991. I was all dated out. I had gone to BYU and met some amazing, wonderful young men. I dated quite a bit, which I thought was pretty crazy since none of the guys in high school or in my ward thought I was dateworthy. But I was done now. I was hoping I was going to marry a certain young man (though he wasn't aware of his fate) but first I was going to go on a mission. As an explanation for those of you who aren't LDS, missionaries are not allowed to date in any way during their missions. Fraternization between male and female missionaries or missionaries and people they meet in their areas of service is prohibited because it would seriously detract from the sacred work we are sent to do: share the gospel. (You can, however, write to anyone, male or female, who is not within the mission boundaries) Fine with me. I was done dating. I figured that after my mission I would go back to BYU to finish my degree and harrass the guy I wanted to marry until he either told me to get lost or agreed to marry me.

I went to England on my mission. In my second area, I met a Welsh elder, my zone leader, and knew within a few hours that I was going to fall in love with him. It's wasn't a dreamy revelation, though. It was a sudden knowledge, a solid THUNK of revelation, the kind of thing you know is true without knowing how you know. Since we were both missionaries, I started praying to Heavenly Father to take the feeling away. I wanted to be a good missionary, to focus on the work. The feeling increased, however, and then I knew I was going to marry him. You LDS returned missionaries are out there snickering in sad disbelief. Yes, it was the Spirit telling me, sometimes to the point of physical pain, that THIS was the guy I would marry. Don't even lecture me. I know. I know. I couldn't believe it either. Yet, I knew it and I was glad, glad, glad.

Long story short, Elder Future Husband got transferred to another area. One night he called me (again, no lectures) and told me he had been saying his prayers and the spirit had told him to call me and ask me to marry him. I fell over and said yes. We went and saw the mission president a couple weeks after that to keep everything in the open, and I was so sure President was going to send me home or transfer me to another mission. He was new and I didn't know how he'd react. Turns out, his parents met as missionaries and he felt the spirit there in the office. He gave us strict rules to follow about talking or writing to each other, and we followed them. I had ten months left of my mission at this point, and Elder Future Husband finished his mission a couple of months later and went home to work and get his visa for the United States.

By the time I finished my mission, I'd been engaged for ten months and had never held his hand, given him a hug, or, of course, kissed him. Most would find that a little odd. I went home and Future Husband followed me to the States five days later. I was so nervous as I went to pick him up at the airport. I couldn't sit still and wait, I had to walk and fidget. Finally he was here and I saw him coming through the door. I waited for a hug, for him to dip me and smooch me right there, anything, but he walked right by me and put his stuff down on a chair first. THEN, he hugged me. Then he kissed me. I was so flustered after that I couldn't remember what the car looked like. My parents had bought it while I was on my mission and I had only driven it a couple times, so we walked around the parking lot while I stupidly tried to get my head in order and remember anything about the car. He kissed me again in the parking lot, which didn't help. Since we aren't still wandering in that parking lot, it's obvious I did eventually locate the car. Then I kidnapped him and we went to the shore of Lake Superior and talked (and smooched) until he felt ready to meet my family. A month and a half after that we got married in the Salt Lake Temple.

It was the perfect way for me meet Husband. Heavenly Father knows me well.

This is long. I even edited a bunch in the middle. That's the story of my first first kiss and my last first kiss.