For Rick and Krista

Physical closeness has never been my thing...in short, I am am not and have never been a "huggy" person and unless I know you very well I would likely recoil at the thought. But these things evolve too - the things I thought I am and am not inclined to do or be is slowly being re-written in this uncertain period - this interim time. Perhaps it comes with the territory of letting so many secrets go - the proximity of spirit that accompanies freeing oneself from what was kept bundled in dark corners inside. But sometimes a hug involves no hesitation - no holding in or holding back - freely and willingly and openly given - as it was yesterday when I finally caught up with a long-lost friend and his wife visiting from Winnipeg. An embrace that you feel to the core of your being - heart connected to heart connected to spirit connected to soul - one whose impression lasts like a warm blanket that you can wrap around yourself at any moment merely by thinking of it...remembering. Nothing anyone could possibly give me would mean as much as those hugs and the people with whom I shared them.