Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Joy of Reading - Left Neglected

...from Left Neglected by Lisa Genova

We kiss good-bye.  It’s our typical morning good-bye kiss.  A quick peck.  A well-intentioned habit.  I look down and notice Lucy’s round, blue eyes paying close attention.  I flash to studying my own parents kissing when I was little.  They kissed each other hello and good-bye and good night like I would have kissed one of my aunts, and it terribly disappointed me.  There was no drama to it at all.  I promised myself that when I got married some day, I would have kisses that meant something.  Kisses that would make me weak in the knees.  Kisses that would embarrass the kids.  Kisses like Han Solo kissing Princess Leia.  I never saw my father kiss my mother like that.  What was the point of it?  I never got it.  Now I get it.  We aren’t living in some George Lucas blockbuster adventure.  Our morning kiss good-bye isn’t romantic, and it certainly isn’t sexual.  It’s a routine kiss, but I’m glad we do it.  It does mean something.  It’s enough.