I was fortunate to have a pretty amazing/progressive sexual education. When I was an early teen I participated in a program called AYS (About Your Sexuality) that my church put on. You can read the wikipedia article for a slightly jaded synopsis of the curriculum, but for me it provided all of the information that I needed to take it real slowly, sexually speaking.
As a result while most of my guys friends were losing their virginity, I was kissing and holding hands. I got really good at it. In fact I got so good at it that I had an entire (2 week) relationship once that centered around (shall we say) erotic hand holding. Twenty something years later I find that I still get a charge from it.
The beginning startles me sometimes. We are walking side by side. The back of her hand will brush against my hip as we walk. It’s been 18 years but it still makes me smile (sometimes privately) when she signals this way. On the next swing of my arm our open palms bush and our fingers lock, my hand goes below, hers above. Our pace synchronises, she gives a little squeeze and my perspective shifts. We are now walking together towards something. It doesn’t matter what that something is because we are getting there, together.
Maybe I was lost in thought before. Perhaps I was a little pookie. With the locking of fingers, small concerns evaporate, bigger challenges seem surmountable, and the sunshine smells fresher.