Kiss Me

(Warning: I am currently in an extremely literary/romatic mood. Please continue at your own peril. You have been warned!)

There are so many times when I look back over my life, and I am drawn to tears. Tears of regret. Tears of shame. Tears of sorrow. How could I have thought so little of something so beautiful and intimate as a kiss? I am forgiven, I know, both by Jon and by God. But, oh, what a costly sacrifice for such brief, immediate, passing, personal affection!

Kisses are treated with a great deal of casual scorn these days. In all the great movies, what does everyone (or at least, the girls) look foward to at the end? The kiss. You can kiss anyone for any reason. Saving a first kiss for something important like. . .oh, I dunno. . .*cough* MARRIAGE *cough* . . . well, that's almost unheard of! Very little is said today about the importance of saving first kisses for the one person that you are going to marry. . .and wating until the VERY MOMENT that you are offically man and wife to seal the commitment forever with a kiss.

Back in the 1800s, a kiss was viewed as something scandelous. A kiss given to someone to whom you were not engaged was considered almost as impure as premarital sex! Now, kissing is a common practice!

Okay, now I sound like a serious prude. I'm not saying that if you kiss someone, you're going to hell or anything crazy like that. In my opinion, that should be left up to your own personal beliefs. Answer to your own conscience. However, I do believe that kissing is treated with an attitude that is far too casual. How many movie kisses have you seen that have stuck in your mind? I have seen only a few -- a rare, beautiful few!

The kiss between Noah and Allie in The Notebook. Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice. Arwen and Aragon in The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Neo and Trinity in The Matrix. Landon and Jamie in A Walk to Remember. Tyler and Nora in Step Up. Romeo and Juliet in Romeo + Juliet.

Now you may be asking, why these particular kisses? Because each one of these rare kisses signifies something precious. Allie and Noah: forever love, regardless of circumstances or hardship. Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth: purity. Arwen and Aragon: devotion and sacrifice. Neo and Trinity: salvation. Landon and Jamie: 'til death do us part. Tyler and Nora: devotion and sacrifice. Romeo and Juliet: all of the above.

Oh, how I wish that I had not thrown away my first kiss. Or my second. Or my tenth. But with Jon, I have a new start. I've never kissed him. And until Pastor says, "You may now (finally!!!!) kiss the bride," I don't intend to! And something else: Jon has never kissed anyone. ANYONE! Do you know what its like to realize that you are someone's one and only? For real??? It makes me cry. . .as I am doing right now, actually! It's a stunning realization. It's beautiful. It's romantic. It's true. It's holy. It's pure. It's GONNA BE AMAZING! It's gonna be worth the wait. 100%.

Kiss me beneath the milky twilight.
Lead me out on the moonlit floor.
Lift your open hand,
Strike up the band,
And make the fireflies dance
With the silver moon sparkling.
So
Kiss me.
~Kiss Me, Sixpence None the Richer