Once more to be sure.

I am writing this post as a tribute to one of my best friends Chris Pardon. We have known each other since eighth grade and yesterday was his birthday. We are both a little older now but I remember when we were 13 like it was only two years ago instead of....well I won't say how many years ago, it isn't lady like to share my age. To top it off we both have kids now that are the age we were when we met.

My dad had just been transferred to Hanua, Germany and I was about to start eighth grade. We moved in next door to a boy who was in my grade and also my homeroom, Chris Pardon. We became good friends as we walked to and from school together and spent time chatting and hanging out.

The end of the school year came and we were invited to an eighth grade graduation party. The entire group sat in a circle and played spin the bottle. If the bottle landed on you, then the other party would escort you to the hall where you were supposed to kiss and then come back out to spin the bottle again. By the time I started ninth grade I had kissed six boys and all thanks to that party.

When Chris spun the bottle and it landed on me we went back into the hall. The kiss was a bit awkward. I was nervous. We went back to the group and I remember thinking how unremarkable the kiss was. I guess I had expected once we kissed there would be fireworks. I mean he was my best friend after all. Really it was just a residual taste of butterscotch that he got from me because that was what I happened to have been eating just before the kiss. (I love butterscotch .)

Once or twice over the summer Chris and I discussed the unremarkable kiss at the party and agreed that we should try kissing again, once more to be sure. We thought maybe the given circumstances under which we first kissed may have had a role on the true effect of the kiss. After choosing an agreed upon place and time we met up for our second, and hopefully more fulfilling kiss.

It too was unremarkable. Maybe it was the lack of chemistry, the fact that this time we kissed under the stairs in our building, I didn't have butterscotch, who knows, but after we kissed for the second time we agreed that we were definitely meant to be friends. Looking back on this story now I laugh at our 13 year old selves actually discussing when we should kiss again just to be sure. It makes me smile even more that we have maintained a friendship over all these years. Happy Birthday (yesterday) Chris!! And many more.