I read your response to Deb, of course.

DEB: Whoa! Only 8 years old? I would have been traumatized!

We were actually trying to remember our “first kisses” the other day. Deb swears she can’t remember hers. [Yes, dear.] Mine was after college (in college I had no successful dates — all two of them ended badly) with my sister’s roommate, who liked to flirt with me to get me to blush. (Didn’t take much!) I didn’t count on her being somewhat drunk and VERY pissed off at her boyfriend, so a “ha, can’t scare me” kiss from me 😘 turned into… a somewhat sustained and completely surprising make out session. 😳 The next day, I found that drunken romances only last until sobriety sets in. 😢 A good thing — she ended up married to her boyfriend a couple years later. 👰💍🤵

“Nerd Romance” started as a “what if” scenario from my high school days. Alas, I never went on a date in high school; I asked one girl out once, taking months to work up the nerve (and a plan! Roy was right, nerds plan spontaneity) and then she laughed at me. THAT was traumatizing! 😩