Young Love

Today while exercising I witnessed puppy love. You know the kind, oblivious to the world, we will stick our tongues in each other's mouths in front of people kind of love.

I was on the Reebok machine at the neighborhood workout room for the first time in a while (and the muscles were telling me so with every movement). I was listening to my MP3 player and staring out the window onto the pool. A huge rain storm had just moved through so there was no one swimming. The two lifeguards were there anyway I suppose since the pool was technically open they had to stay at work. The sun had just broken through the clouds so the two lifeguards were in the water with their Baywatch red floatation devices. Did I mention these two were a boy and a girl?

I had already ascertained that these two were friendly. Their position in the water told me so. Then the boy took the girl's head between his hands and he kissed her. It was very romantic, especially for a boy of 16? 17? Of course, he immediately reverted to typical boy behavior and began sticking his tongue out to touch her with it on the forehead, the nose, the chin while she wiggled and giggled and pulled away.

At first, I got all parental and neighborhood association-ish in my mind, "They should not be frolicking, they should be working!" and "They are not being paid to swim around and fondle each other!" Then I looked at them again. From a new point of view.

Young love IS beautiful. These two were both attractive teenagers (isn't it a prerequisite of lifeguards to be gorgeous? or at least passably cute?). They were totally oblivious to the world in that moment. No kids to worry about. In the pool or of their own. No bills to worry about. No dishes or laundry. They could indulge themselves in the moment because they had no distractions.

My entire life is one big distraction. Laundry, bills, errands, kids, cooking, newsletters to write and design. Those moments when I am alone with my husband, who I still love like a teenager, may be far and few between sometimes but I still love that feeling. That feeling that you are the only two people in the world who love each other that much. That feeling that you are in a bubble and time has ceased to exist. That nothing else matters but touching that other person.

Hey, why don't you reach out and touch someone today???

Bonus points if you can name the company who used to use that slogan.