i couldn't help it.

I cam from 2 parents who are total opposites in some ways.

My mom was one of 2 children.

{both girls... with an 8 year age gap in between}

She lived in a big city in California.

Her dad was a business man who wore suits and her mom always wore aprons over her fine clothes to clean and cook.

They were always very proper at her house and she never remembers hugging her dad.

{or seeing her parents kiss}

Physical contact was hardly part of their vocabulary.

My dad grew up with several brothers and sisters in a small town in New Mexico.

His town was comprised of mostly his cousins or close friends.

Grandma says she nursed any baby that was hungry.

{wether or not they had a mother}

My dad grew up without "typical" socially acceptable physical touch boundaries.

He {and everyone in town} kissed on the lips.

{on. the. lips}

My mom recalls visiting his extended family for the first time.

She actually cried from feeling so accosted by random lip kissers.

Somehow she was able to set a few boundaries and stop her cousin lip kissing saga through the years.

I am sure it took some time, but my mom adjusted to being a little more physically affectionate.

Ever since I can remember, my parents would kiss in the morning before my dad left for work and would have an even more intense kiss when he got home.

I truly thought it was completely normal to have your dad come home from work, give your mom a full hug, large wet kiss, and squeeze her booty and growl....every evening.

{i would act grossed out sometimes, but I thought it was totally cute}

As a teenager, I thought it was HILARIOUS to go to family reunions and watch my dad walk up to anyone with a cousin name tag and kiss them.

{either on the lips or the neck}

Although he reserved his "nook of the neck" kisses for the old ladies.

{and he always added "the growl"}

Meggan and I would laugh until our sides hurt placing bets on how many cousins he would kiss.

Best weekends ever.

I am now the visiting teaching coordinator in our ward.

This gives me the chance to work with several of the older sisters in our ward who are visiting teaching supervisors.

I think they are so sweet and I feel so bad when they call and want to chat for hours since they are so lonely.

I read an article one day about how older widows can go for weeks without anyone having any physical contact with them.

Not even a single arm touch.

{i can't imagine how lonely that would be}

I suddenly realized a little why my dad saved his "special" growls and neck kisses for the old widows.

I made a pact to try to touch the older sisters when I talked to them.

{wether on the arm, hand, or a hug}

It wasn't hard for me to do this since this apple hasn't fallen far from the tree.

There is one sister in our ward who is mostly grumpy.

{her glass is almost always half empty}

Jake is her home teacher and we could tell countless funny stories about her sourness.

She also happens to be a visiting teaching supervisor.

{so I get to talk to her often}

She has no family, no close friends, and lives alone with her cats.

One night at ward temple night I walked into the dressing room and saw her standing there.

{alone}

Without much thought, I walked up to her, gave her a full hug, aaaand kissed the nook of her neck.

{all I was missing was the growl}

As I walked away I realized what I had just done.

{without any pre-thought}

I had just kissed the nook of her neck!!!!!

I was my dad!!!!

{and she wasn't even related}

I laughed in my temple voice and cried laughing tears when I told Jake later what I had done.

I wish I could've seen her face.

She must've been more surprised than I was.

{and boy was I surprised}

You can the girl out of the Lines, but you can't take the Lines out of the girl.