Do you remember your first kiss? Maybe you were six-years-old playing in the sandbox when your cootie-covered next door neighbor planted a wet one on you. Possibly it happened in the fourth grade, or at your seventh-grade school dance, or even sophomore year of high school. Do you still remember it? Hopefully, your first kiss was with someone you were interested in; leaving you excited, full of adrenaline, and most of all -- nervous as hell. Every single morning since this past Father’s Day, I have woken up like a teenager who has just received her first kiss. Only this time, it’s not a kiss nor a boy that makes me wake up still ecstatic every morning. It’s the fact that my land has brought home ourselves a championship, the Cleveland Cavaliers. It was almost as if I've been kissed by the Cavs.
A belly full of butterflies
Just as your belly is full of swarms of chaotic butterflies as you are about to receive your first kiss from your crush, every fan whether for the Cavs or Warriors had a belly full of hyperactive insects for the entire fourth quarter of game seven. How could you not be restless at that moment in time? Warriors are up, Cavs are up, Warriors are back up, Cavs make a three, foul, timeout, foul, three-pointer, foul. Of course, threes, fouls and time outs are an elementary parts of the game, but when Cleveland is about to win a championship after 52 years, it’s a whole other sport and the ball is in anyone’s court, pun intended.
Sweaty palms
Put yourself back to the setting of your first kiss. You most likely distinctly remember just how sweaty your palms were and how embarrassed you were going to be if your crush touched them. Everyone’s hands were sweaty during game seven, there is no denying it. But instead of hiding it, we embraced it with high-five after high-five every time Cleveland scored. It wasn’t a small "Hooray, go Cavs,” but a roar of excitement, lighting up our planet from outer space.
Cold feet
You are about to finally lock lips for the first time, and all of your excitement almost runs away and you want to run away with it as your nerves take over. Just like your first kiss, you almost need to look away from the game as the seconds tick down and you can’t seem to watch how it all is going to end. There is so much possibility at stake within 10 seconds, and you just can’t handle your nerves anymore.
Pure bliss
The kiss is done and over! You have finally kissed your crush and the fireworks have officially lit and set off. The Warriors missed their last shot and the time ran out -- Cleveland Cavaliers win it all! The bar is a zoo, your smile is taking over your face, you can no longer cheer because your voice is already gone, but the only thing running through your veins is pure joy. Nothing else in the world matter because the Cavs are champions, and Cleveland has broken its curse.
Father’s Day was the best Father’s Day to have ever been celebrated in Northeastern Ohio. Not only was a day full of bliss for fathers, but for mothers, daughters, sons, and anyone in between. The innocence, anxiety, and hopefulness brought on by that evening will never be replaced by any other won championship just as your first kiss can never be replaced by another.
