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| Kathie Lee Gifford, talk show host |
Yabba Dabba Doo! |
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At twenty-two I was a virgin. I'd been a teenager during the 1960s sexual revolution but the only thing I ever did "all the way" was cling to the belief that saving myself for my husband on our wedding night was the most romantic, beautiful thing a girl could do.
The groom was a tall, handsome gospel music composer and arranger named Paul Johnson. Paul had waited seven years longer than I had; he was twenty-nine . . .
[On our honeymoon in Acapulco], we were driven up a winding road in a pink Jeep to our private little bungalow — our casita — overlooking the ocean. My heart was pounding.
I was like the most virginal virgin anyone's ever known. Even Frank [Gifford] can't believe there was a time in my life when I was like that — not because I'm such an animal or anything, but I've just become so comfortable with my sexuality. I'm sorry, but anyone who's instantly relaxed with being naked in front of somebody for the first time and having someone explore intimate parts of the body is either lying about being relaxed — or lying about it being the first time. Believe me, I was neither lying nor relaxed. I just don't think that kind of thing comes naturally to most people. Not in the world I came out of. In fact, I believe the only male sex organ I had actually seen by the age of twenty-two was the one that was attached to Zorro, the family dog. As far as I knew, they were all like that.
But [I had] some raging hormones going. I mean I was ready! My lifelong self-consciousness about my body seemed, miraculously, to fade right away . . . let me tell you, I really did look divine. Relaxed? Forget it! It was, like, yabba dabba doo! I lost every inhibition I'd ever had. It was time for candles and romance, time to boogie and swing from the chandeliers.
And yet we just couldn't seem to get relaxed with each other. It saddens me to think about it now. We were so uncomfortable with each other, and I felt responsible and disappointed for both of us. I spent the first night of my married life sobbing my eyes out, feeling we had just made the biggest mistake of our lives. (Acapulco, Mexico, 1976)
from I Can't Believe I Said That!: An Autobiography by Kathie Lee Gifford with Jim Jerome (Pocket Books, ©1991)
© 2000 Nerve.com, Inc.
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