His Name Was David (If I Remember Correctly)

The first kiss is stolen by the man; the last is begged by the woman.”
- H.L. (Henry Lewis) Mencken

When I was only six years old, Captain America kissed me on the lips and in that moment ushered me into the world where boys kiss girls.
Ok, it wasn’t really Captain America. His name was David (if I remember correctly). Young David always wore this Captain America t-shirt, so that’s what we called him: Captain America. And that’s what I remember about him, mostly. That and the kissing.

It was innocent enough, thankfully, as our greatest accomplishments at that time were tying shoelaces and using the toilet. We were playing some home-made game we called “Married” wherein David, my sister, and I crawled under a table and took turns kissing. The table was covered by a white comforter, thus concealing our intimacy and creating a mock wedding tent at the same time.

David always got to be the groom of course, and my sister and I alternated between playing the bride and some form of wedding officiant. The bride and groom repeatedly exchanged vows, placed invisible rings on tiny fingers, and finally kissed. It was a slightly drawn-out version of soap opera kissing: closed mouths, dramatic head turning, exaggerated embraces, and lots of smacking and moaning and other immature sound effects. The game finally ended with uncontrollable, red-faced, six year-old laughter. Then we’d do it all over again. It was great fun.

It’s a far cry from my adult understanding of kissing. But then again... Is it?

At only six years old, we knew enough to know that

• kissing is important and not to be taken for granted (thus the creation of a game to honor it);


• kissing is (for the most part) a one-on-one activity (thus the turn-taking);


• kissing is personal and intimate (thus the comforter-turned hide-out tent);


• kissing is, in some sense, a sacred activity (thus the ceremony);


• kissing is passionate and emotional (thus the soap opera sound effects);


• and that kissing is in general, fabulous giddy fare (thus the hysterical conclusive laughter).

Hunh... What do you know? Everything I needed to know about kissing, I learned from a six year-old Captain America wannabe thirty years ago. Kissing can be good stuff.

Let that be a reminder to you.