It All Started With a Hug

I was talking to one of the women in my University of Portland family (I call it that because there is no other word I can think of to describe how close these people are to me) and got to thinking about how UP shaped who I am today.

When I started college, it was a whole new world for so many reasons - I won't even begin to peel back those layers right now. But today I was thinking about hugs.

My family is not affectionate through physical touch AT ALL. In fact, I can count on one hand the number of times I've ever been hugged by all three of my brothers combined. As a result, I was not much of a hug person when I started at UP. You can imagine my discomfort when I was at Mass and instead of handshakes at the sign of peace, my peers were giving hugs. Hugs were so foreign to me that they felt uncomfortable.

As my time at UP progressed, I started branching out a little more with different social activities. I signed up for a retreat and a few of the people I met there suggested I join them for a youth group-like activity they called Praise and Fellowship (or P&F for short.) I went, not knowing what to expect. It was a room full of people who were all excited to meet up and take a break out of their crazy schedules. We sang a few songs and prayed a few different prayers, and at the very end we circled up for a final prayer. Little did I know what was about to happen. As soon as the prayer was over, the guy next to me warned me to 'get ready.' Before I knew it, my friend lunged across the circle, tackling me with the biggest hug I'd ever had! I was officially part of the hug circle. For the next ten or fifteen minutes, each person worked their way around the room making sure they hugged each person and talked for a bit.

I started going every week, and I have to admit, at first it was mostly for the hugs. I never knew how much I loved them! Eventually, I became one of the leaders of the group and for about two weeks we actually considered making shirts that said 'FREE HUGS' along with the meeting time and place for the group to wear around campus.

I digress.

My point is, anyone who knows me knows that I have become a hug person. I used to love getting a 'safe side hug' from my kiddos at the end of the school day when I taught kindergarten. My nieces and nephews always hug me before they leave. And my Disney friends know that if they pat me on the back while they hug me, we start completely over and try again. Because I FIRMLY believe there should be no patting on the back involved when giving someone a hug. My mom is still trying to work on this.

That's all. A pointless blog entry, really. But my mind was wandering today after I talked with my friend and I realized that my 'hug-person' personality all began with that night at P&F when my friend tackled me from across the circle.

I wonder if hugs are still as awesome at P&F these days...