First Kiss, Nickelback, Nostalgia...

One night last week, Son asked me how old he'd be when he first kissed a girl. So I asked Husband how old he was when he had his first kiss, and he said he didn't remember! We ended up having a long discussion (after Son went to bed), because I figured Husband was either a) lying, or b) such an insensitive clod that his first kiss didn't mean anything to him. Maybe, though, I was just seeing the situation the way a woman would (gee, I wonder why?), and maybe the first kiss isn't such a big deal for (some) guys. Or maybe it isn't such a big deal when you're really young when it happens. Or maybe I married an insensitive clod.

I remember my first kiss, but don't worry--I'll spare you the slobbery details. I also won't mention how old I was, because it's too dang embarrassing. But at any rate, it was a guy I met at a dance, we went out once after that, and that was it. But it was one of those cheesy adolescent milestones, and I'll never forget it.

What got me to thinking about all this, besides the conversation last week, was this neat little snippet from Photograph by Nickelback:

Kim's the first girl I kissed
I was so nervous that I nearly missed
She’s had a couple of kids since then
I haven’t seen her since God knows when

The nostalgia in that song is almost palpable. I feel it every time I go back home, and I wonder if it would be different if I still lived in my hometown, surrounded by memories and my old friends. At least, thanks in part to the internet, I've been able to reconnect with some of the old crowd. We're so different now, married with kids, jobs, and mortgages. And yet underneath all those trappings of adulthood, I think we're the same goofy, insecure teenagers we were back in the day. I know I wear my "adulthood" like a uniform, the face I show a certain segment of the world. But I take it off every chance I get.

So whatcha think, dear readers? Do you remember your first kiss? Was it a big deal? Is it something most people remember, or am I just pathetic? Do you think guys are less likely to remember something like that than women are? Please leave a comment and share your thoughts.