I attended a networking event for creative professionals last night, and a gentleman I was speaking to was comparing something to Kindergarten and mentioned when the teacher leaves a classroom of kindergartners for five seconds, the whole class goes haywire.
Suddenly, a thought popped in my mind that was a memory from my own Kindergarten days. Which also leads to the story of my first kiss.
My Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Berman, was gone for the day, so we of course, tortured our substitute teacher. Or, more like I did.
From what I can recall of this day, I decided to tie-up the boy I had a crush on, Thomas, to the teacher's chair, and ordered all the girls in class to stand in line so we could take turns kissing him.
The classroom was in such disarray, that the sub actually called our teacher to come in on her day off. I'm sure she was thrilled. Once we heard our teacher's voice booming from the door, me and my friends decided to duck for cover, and hid in our coat closet, which was behind a chalkboard that was pulled down from the ceiling. But it didn't reach the floor.
Mrs. Berman saw our tiny feet from under the chalkboard and raised it to the ceiling. It made a creaky, crashing sound, that let me know I was in a LOT of trouble. And poor Thomas, still tied to the chair, had red lipstick-kiss marks all over his face. I forgot where we got the lipstick. Maybe I stole it from my mom.
I never saw Thomas again after I left Belding Elementary School. Maybe I'm in his nightmares, or in a memory from the best day he ever had in Kindergarten.
However, I did run into another old crush of mine from Kindergarten and First Grade. And I didn't even know it till months later.
His name was Richard, he had brown eyes and brown-curly hair. He hung out with this gangly looking kid with glasses. I forgot his name, but his name is not important. However, he is an intricate part of my little romance with Richard.
We were all outside for recess one day, playing the game "Kiss and Run." I probably started it. Richard's friend tagged me and pushed me down to the ground. I was laying on my back and started yelling "No! Get off me! I don't want to kiss you!". He continued to hold my arms down and said "Wait here." I was laying on the ground, confused, staring up at the sky, when I suddenly felt someone sitting next to me, and then saw Richard's face, and he leaned towards mine, and he kissed me. I always count that to be my first kiss, especially since I didn't have to tie Richard to a chair to get it from him.
About 30 years later, I took a real estate course in downtown Chicago. I made some good friends in that class--it was 7 days, from 8am-5:30pm, and we all bonded from the stress of it. There was a guy in class named "Richie" who worked as a bartender by night, and he would usually come to class looking exhausted. I talked to him briefly a few times on the elevator, with nothing more than a "How are you?" and complaining about some real estate stuff. That was in June 2014.
Fast forward to December 2014 where I get an email from a man that was in my real estate class announcing his becoming a Realtor. When I saw the name, it hit me that not only did I have class with that man, but he was also my first kiss. The funny thing is, I never knew "Richie's" last name, until I saw it in his email. So, I sent him a congratulations email, and then asked the strangest question "Did you go to Belding for grammar school?"
He replied right away and said "Yeah, that is a strange question, I did go to Belding. Why do you ask?"
I replied by telling him I knew his name looked familiar, and I was in his Kindergarten and First Grade classes with him. Also, I used to be good friends with one of his friend's of the same name, and that I still talk to him.
He never responded.
How funny it is when you take a different path in life, and your past comes back to haunt you. Or maybe, Chicago is just a small city. In the end, I left it to a charming coincidence, and even if "Richie" didn't remember me, I'll always have that first kiss.
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