The meeting had come to an end. Bob starred to stand up and jostled the table, spilling his coffee over his notes. “How embarrassing. I am getting so clumsy in my old age.”

Everyone had a good laugh, and soon we were all telling stories of our most embarrassing moments. It came around to Frank who sat quietly listening to the others. Someone said, “Come on, Frank. Tell us your most embarrassing moment.”

Frank began, “I grew up in San Pedro. My Dad was a fisherman, and he loved the sea. He had his own boat, but it was hard making a living on the sea. He worked hard and would stay out until he caught enough to feed the family. Not just enough for our family, but also for his Mom and Dad and the other kids that were still at home.” He looked at us and said, “I wish you could have met my Dad. He was a big man, and he was strong from pulling the nets and fighting the seas for his catch. When you got close to him, he smelled the ocean.”

Franks voice dropped a bit. “When the weather was bad he would drive me to school. He would pull right up in front, and it seemed like everybody would be standing around and watching. Then he would lean over and give me a big kiss on the cheek and tell me to be a good boy. It was so embarrassing for me. Here I was twelve years old, and my Dad would lean over and kiss me good-bye!

He paused and then went on, “I remember the day I thought I was too old for a good-bye kiss. When we got the school and came to a stop, he had his usual big smile. He started to lean toward me, but I put my hand up and said, ‘No, Dad. It was the first time I had ever talked to him that way, and he had this surprised look on his face.

“I said, ‘Dad, Im too old for a good-bye kiss. Im too old for any kind of kiss. My Dad looked at me for a long time, and his eyes started to tear up. I had never seen him cry. He turned back and looked out of the windshield. ‘Youre right, he said. ‘You are a big boy… a man. I wont kiss you anymore.”

For the moment, Frank got a funny look on his face, and the tears began to well up in his eyes. “It wasnt long after that when my Dad went to the sea and never came back.”

I looked at Frank and saw that tears were running down his cheeks. Frank spoke again, “Guys, you dont know what I would give to have my Dad give me just one more kiss on the cheek…to feel his rough old face… to smell the ocean on him…to feel his arm around my neck. I wish I had been a man then. If I had been a man, I would never have told my Dad I was too old for a good-bye kiss.”

董事會(huì)議結(jié)束了，鮑勃站起身時(shí)不小心撞到了桌子，把咖啡灑到了筆記本上?！罢鎭G臉啊，這把年紀(jì)了還毛手毛腳的?！彼缓靡馑嫉卣f。

所有人都哈哈大笑起來，然后我們開始講述各自經(jīng)歷的最尷尬的時(shí)刻。一圈過來，輪到一直默默坐在那兒聽別人講的弗蘭克了。有人說：“來吧，弗蘭克，給大家講講你最難為情的時(shí)刻?！?/p>

弗蘭克開始了他的講述。“我是在桑派德羅長大的。我爸爸是一位漁夫，他非常熱愛大海。他有自己的小船，但是靠在海上捕魚為生太艱難了。他辛勤地勞動(dòng)，一直待在海上直到捕到足以養(yǎng)活全家的魚為止。他不僅要養(yǎng)活我們的小家，還要養(yǎng)活爺爺奶奶以及他還未成家的弟弟妹妹。”弗蘭克看著我們，繼續(xù)說，“我真希望你們能見見我的爸爸。他是一個(gè)身材高大的男人，因長期拉網(wǎng)捕魚以及與大海搏斗的緣故，他十分強(qiáng)壯。走近他時(shí)，你能夠聞到他身上散發(fā)出來的大海的氣息?！?/p>

弗蘭克的聲音低了一點(diǎn)：“天氣不好的時(shí)候，爸爸會(huì)開車送我們?nèi)W(xué)校。他會(huì)把車停在學(xué)校正門口，感覺好像每個(gè)人都站在一旁看著我們。然后，他靠過來，在我臉上重重親一口，告訴我要做一個(gè)好孩子。這讓我覺得很難為情。那時(shí)我已經(jīng)12歲，而爸爸還俯身給我一個(gè)道別的親吻?！?/p>

弗蘭克停頓了一下，又繼續(xù)說道：“我還記得那天，我認(rèn)為自己已經(jīng)長大到不再適合一個(gè)道別的親吻。當(dāng)我們到了學(xué)校停下來的時(shí)候，像往常一樣，爸爸露出了燦爛的笑容，他開始向我俯下身來，然后我抬手擋住了他，‘不，爸爸。那是我第一次那樣對他說話，他十分吃驚?！?/p>

“‘爸爸，我已經(jīng)長大了，大到不再適合接受一個(gè)道別的親吻了，也不再適合任何的親吻了。爸爸盯著我看了好長時(shí)間，潸然淚下。我從未見過他哭泣。他轉(zhuǎn)過身，透過擋風(fēng)玻璃向外望去，平靜地說：‘沒錯(cuò)，你已經(jīng)是一個(gè)大男孩兒……一個(gè)男子漢了。我以后不會(huì)親吻你了。”

講到這兒，弗蘭克臉上露出了古怪的表情，淚水開始在眼眶里打轉(zhuǎn)，“從那之后沒多久，爸爸出海后就再也沒回來了?！?/p>

我看著弗蘭克，眼淚正順著他的臉頰流下來。弗蘭克又開口說：“伙計(jì)們，你們不知道，如果我爸爸能在我臉上親一下……讓我感覺一下他那粗糙的臉……聞一聞他身上海洋的氣息……享受他摟著我脖子的感覺，付出什么我都愿意。我真希望那時(shí)候我是一個(gè)真正的男子漢。如果我是一個(gè)真正的男子漢，我絕不會(huì)告訴爸爸我已經(jīng)長大到不再需要一個(gè)道別的親吻了?！?