Kissing contest winners and a story from my mom!

On Monday I shared the story of my first kiss and invited readers to offer their own first kiss or awkward kiss stories.

Holy cow, you guys didn’t disappoint!

There were too many great stories to share, and I ended up enlisting my mom’s help to pick a winner. Here are a few of our favorites:

Taymalin wrote:

Well, when I was in kindergarten I had my first boyfriend. He was a younger man, not yet in school. His sister babysat me, so I spent a lot of time in his house.

His sister, who was 14, decided that it would be great fun to marry us, so she dressed me up in her mother's wedding dress, and performed a very unconventional wedding ceremony.

When she told her brother to kiss the bride, we ran screaming to his room. We locked her out, sat on his bed and promptly gave kissing a try. I remember it being very silly, but not gross. Though we both said it was very gross when asked. After that we kissed whenever we were alone, which wasn't very often.

He was a very good husband. He even brought me flowers (apple blossoms).

When his sister married my brother (for real, not pretend) our families teased us mercilessly about being married. Especially since he brought his girlfriend as his date to the wedding, the cheater.

Ahh, nothing like a marriage between two five-year-olds to bring a sentimental tear to my eye.

And speaking of young marriage, gotta love the third grade cycle of love and loss:

ashelynn hetland wrote:

When I was in elementary school we always used to get married behind the trees.

Totally legit.

Dylan, "We're getting married next recess."

"Okay."

Next recess my cousin pronounced us married and said we had to kiss. We leaned forward, touched lips, and ran away.

The next recess and last of the day we got divorced.

Third grade was awesome.

While we’re on the subject of lost love, it sounds like this is one doomed love affair that just wasn’t meant to be:

Anne N Kenny wrote:

My first kiss was with a boy who is now 100% into other boys. So there's that... ;)

Of course, young love isn’t all goofy. Here’s one that worked out for the long-haul (and got me a little choked up for real):

jill wrote:

Put me in the 'late bloomer' category! We were eighteen and had met at a freshman mixer dance before college classes started. There were dances three nights in a row, and by the third night we went for a walk outside and he kissed me.

I'm ashamed to admit I don't remember many of the particulars, but we were happily married for 21 years until he passed away, so the kiss must have been a pretty good one. (I think it was his first kiss as well!)

As soon as I figure out how this whole dating thing works, I'll be looking forward to more first kisses, even the awkward ones.

Then there were the finalists that truly left us laughing. Behold…

Laurie Lamb wrote:

The cute new boy from school was also my new neighbour. I was getting to know him behind my house. We were sitting cross-legged and blowing on blades of grass between our thumbs. It was an intense contest to see who could make the most disgusting noise.

Then he suggested we kiss.

He leaned in and barely brushed my lips when we both started laughing. HARD. A generous dribble of spit stretched out of the corner of his mouth until it reached the ground. The wind bent the spit and it touched his arm. That was when he noticed it. I was silent as he wiped it away.

He gripped my shoulders and stared at me for a long time. His expression was so intense. I forgot all about the spit and thought he was going to really kiss me this time.

“Don’t ever tell anyone I drool,” he said.

Angela Perry wrote:

Ooh, I have one for the most awkward kiss category.

I was dating this guy in high school. I thought we were still at the mostly friends stage. I was friends with his brother and sister and mom, and we hung out more than actually "dated."

Then one day, he leaned over, stuck his lips on mine, and proceeded to go to town. I froze. My mind was totally blank. After a few seconds, he pulled back, reached out, and used his fingers to smush my lips into a kissy-face.

"You have to pucker more," he said.

Needless to say, I was less than thrilled with that insinuation, and we didn't kiss much for a while.

While those had us cracking up, our winner (drumroll please) had us both rolling on the ground clutching our sides. First prize – a signed copy of Making Waves – goes to…

kimmullican.com wrote:

Oh yes! I was 16 and first serious boyfriend... until he kissed me. His idea of a french kiss was to ram his abnormally long tongue down my throat. I started gagging and puked all over the floor of his Cadillac.

Needless to say, we didn't kiss much less anything else as him cleaning my vomit out of his carpet was enough to end our little love affair.

Congrats to Kim for the victory! Send your snail mail address to me at tawnafenske at yahoo dot com and I'll get your signed book in the mail ASAP.

And since I don't want to send any of the finalists away empty-handed, shoot me your snail mail address if you'd like a signed Making Waves bookmark.

Oh, and while I had my mom on the line, I asked her to cough up a kissing story of her own. She shared a couple, but this one is my favorite:

With your father, our first kiss was when we were in high school. We had been friends since 7th grade when my family first moved to Oregon. Your father and I were invited to a New Year's Eve party of a group of freshmen. We were the only “older” kids there, sophomores. I wasn't aware that the person who organized the party had invited your father as her evening's enjoyment. That was not to be though. Your father and I hit it off, danced, talked, and made sure we were together for the first kiss of the New Year. Guess that kiss started something good, since it's now been 41 years, headed for 42. I think I'm glad I didn't have to duke it out with Trudy for your father. I'd have taken her though.

Awww...