sweet sixteen

My mother is going to kill me for telling this story, but when I was sixteen, she let me invite a bunch of my girlfriends out to dinner at one of those tacky restaurants where every table has a different theme, kinda like the rooms of Graceland: the jungle table, the teepee table, that sort of stuff. We ate cake, we giggled, I opened presents, but I don't really remember any of that. This is what I remember: all the young male waitstaff that was on duty that evening, upon learning that it was my sweet sixteen, lined up to give me a kiss. Did I demure? Was I shy about my lack of experience or about kissing a bunch of strangers, many of them quite a bit older than me? Ummm, no. I stood there happily and kissed each one, whether they were foxy (as we said in those days), or not. Most of them were rather chaste little kisses, but some of those bad boys gave me some tongue, and I kissed them right back. It was a happy little surprise that felt naughty, yet innocent all at the same time.

Looking back I have to wonder: was that night the start of all my troubles, a sort of catalyst that set me on a different sort of path, or was it simply the first time I realized that I might not be such a conventional suburban girl afterall?

Comments

[Kimberly]

Ah, sixteen. I feel a little dizzy just thinking about it. Thanks for sharing, no matter what your mother thinks.

[Cowtown Pattie]

What a great Sweet Sixteen! My folks were not big on parties after we reached oh, the age of 2 or thereabouts. My mom is not very sentimental or big on tradition, so birthdays were rather ho hum.

So, hoping to reenact #16? LOL! You betcha!

[Superchuy]

Happy birthday! My 16-th birthday was nowhere near as memorable!

[bluepoppy]

What's most important is that you had a memorable 16th with lots of kisses!

[peg]

It's always amusing to me that even grown women can't believe their mothers remember what it's like to be 16.