1:10 p.m. - March 27, 2006
Hold My Hand!
You know what the best thing ever is?
No, not listening to some great band with people you like.
No, not THAT! (Or that�)
No, it�s something simple, something sweet.
The best thing ever is�.
Holding hands.
I�ve always liked that.
Yesterday, at church, I just sat there for a while holding Liz�s hand and was at peace.
I remember the first time I held her hand, on our first date. I think we were walking from the restaurant we ate at to another bar, and it just slipped in there and it felt right. I knew, at that moment, that there was some electricity.
Definitely, the first grasp of the hand like that is telling for me. There�s some spark, some charge, that�s indescribable, even more so than the first kiss.
Even when I grabbed Vicki�s hand, and Rachel�s hand last week when I visited them, it was really nice and comfortable. Not a charge like va-voom, but a charge like �This is comfortable! This is my friend!�
But why holding hands, instead of the first real kiss with someone romantic?
It may be my first ever �date�. It was in sixth grade.
I met her at the Skate Corral for our date. I had been skating before, obviously, but never, ever got a couples skate. I really never asked, and by gosh on ladies choice I was always passed over. So I usually headed to get a lime Sprite and went to play pinball.
But when the first couple�s skate was announced, I sidled up to her and grabbed her hand. She squeezed back.
Sigh�.
Swoon�..
Wow, what a feeling. So this is what it feels like.
Of course, that relationship was doomed to fail. (Relationship? Whatever.) But the feeling remained.
I don�t know why it�s always been like that. I always had a big rush when I grabbed the hand for the first time.
In college, when I hit the parties, if I was dancing with a girl I liked, I always grabbed her hand first, and I could really feel when it clicked, if it was only for a fleeting moment for that party. I knew when I had a dance partner, someone to hang with, and someone to write letters to when you were pretending to listen to lectures.
(Yes, for you kids � college students used to write LETTERS to their best girlfriends and mail them off and wait for a return letter. It was best if you received a letter FIRST, without sending one first. That, my friends, was heaven!)
And after college, and you start dating for real (for keeps, even), the hand hold was still the best thing ever. Even if it was a first date, if you got to hold her hand for a while, the chances are that you would have a second date.
But now, with me being a married guy and all, with all of the benefits or marriage, holding her hand is still cool.
Yet, it�s topped when your daughter grabs your hand, just to walk across the street or the parking lot. (Yes, we have a rule in our house. You must hold hands in a parking lot because you need to be careful).
That, my friends, is a different kind of rush all together.
So I say this to you � go hold someone�s hand today. Maybe just for 10 seconds or so, but I�m sure it�d make their day.
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On an unrelated note, I posted this in my Myspace blog:
Smed and Liz would like to make this announcement:
It was announced last night at dinner that Katherine Ann (age 4) is going to marry Patrick (age 6 - a classmate at Montessori).
Now, they have not set a date, but we do know that the menu for the reception would consist of:
Peanut butter sandwiches shaped like dinosaurs
Cheese sandwiches cut into triangles
Carrot sticks
Popcorn
Apple slices
Diet Sprite (since it's a special occasion)
The bride and groom will no doubt want a wedding trip to the Indianapolis Children's Museum.
Mind you, this is a shock to Liz and I, as we had our money on Raphael. However, I wonder if Katie will now have to return Raphael's sunglasses to him.
That was too cute not to share it here, either. And I won�t correct the heinous grammatical error I committed. Sigh. I was a math major, as you could guess.
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I also said that I was going to try to set a record about words posted on this essay site and my Myspace blog, because this week in this here site I have a couple (maybe three) essays that are brewing in my head that are of a serious nature, about things on my mind, regarding intolerance and hypocrisy and religion�s involvement in both. It�s not the normal funny, light hearted stuff that I normally write, but I think I need to write this stuff out, too.
Liz made a great point when I was discussing what I was going to write with her � she said my original idea of one essay could get really sprawling. You should see the notes I made and the notes I made in church about it.
I don�t think it will be offensive to anyone because I will try not to offend anyone, but be warned, some of my writings this week may touch on subject issues that we disagree about, and that�s OK, in fact, that�s better than OK. Civil discourse is the hallmark of a free society.
So look for that starting tomorrow.
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OK, enough of that. Remember, hold someone�s hand today!
