Have you ever thought about how ridiculous it is that every movie has to have a kissing scene in it? Think about it. In an action movie, cars are crashing and buildings are being blown up but the dirty sweaty hero has to take time to kiss a dirty sweaty girl. Or in a war movie with bombs falling and bridges being blown up the wounded soldier finds time to kiss a local lady. It is not realistic at all.

A while back I witnessed one of the most romantic kisses I have ever seen. It was not like one of those fake kisses in the silly movies. It was the real deal.

Of course, we have all heard the fairy tales about Snow White, Cinderella, and Beauty and the Beast. Little girls grow up dreaming about being the beautiful princess whose handsome prince finally gathers her in his arms and gently kisses her. Then lifting her onto his white horse they ride to the palace where they live happily ever after. But those fairy tale smooches can never match the kiss I saw that day.

I have officiated at many weddings and told many grooms that they can kiss their brides. Those kisses are always special, but they do not compare to the taste of sugar that I saw this groom get that day.

Let me describe what I saw that day. This bride, the beautiful princess was an elderly woman in a wheelchair. She suffered from dementia and was fading fast. Her groom, the handsome prince was frail with age and cancer would soon end his time on earth.

Their daughter had brought the hero to visit his fair maid in the nursing home. As the time came for them to go, she said “Daddy let me get things fixed so you can get some sugar before we go”. I watched as she worked to position her mother’s wheelchair just right, then she turned and helped her daddy stand up and grip his walker. It took a few seconds to get him in position because he was very unsteady on his feet and could not afford to fall.

Then it happened, with one hand firmly gripping the walker the groom placed his other hand on her shoulder and he bent down and firmly planted a beautiful kiss right on his bride’s mouth.

Let me tell you, this was no dry brushing of the lips. This was a real kiss; I heard the wet smack and I thought to myself “This man knows how to kiss!” Then I heard him say very softly to his wife, “I love you”.

In the late stage of dementia, this precious lady may not have known what was going on but her good man did. Even if she could not answer him, his love for her was everlasting.

As I watched all this happen, I was reminded that yes, fairytales do come true and the prince and princess will live happily ever after. After all the Bible tells us that we have these three things; Faith, hope, and love and the greatest of these is love. Love is patient, love is kind and love never fails.

Douglas Huff

Down Where the Pavement Ends