Hugs

I used to have a student named Phil. He was a talented young man and drew me an incredible picture of Batman. I had it for years and wish I still had it. Phil was a neat kid but one of the things I remember about him was when I would run into him when he was a High School student at Ames High. No matter who was around he would walk up to me and give me a great big hug. It was kind of neat that this boy thought enough of me to give me a hug in the High School hallway.

Teachers used to get hugs all the time from students and I think that the teachers in the lower grades still do get them. Unfortunately our society has evolved so that it is no longer appropriate for there to be hugging in the school.

The pictures above show a couple who were buried hugging It is an incredible story.

Hugging even has its own day. but then everything seems to have its own day anymore.

Hugs are not necessarily just found among people. My dog, Bailey, loves to climb up on my lap and put one paw on each side of my neck and give me a hug. You can see the polar bears hugging above.

Hugging is necessary for health. You can read about it at the Hugs for health site.

There is a little woman from India called the Hugging Saint. It is kind of a neat story.

We all hug our kids, That is important for their health and well being. The physical contact expresses love and caring and communicates our humanness. It is not easy for men to hug each other except for moments of euphoria after a winning game and then you see them hugging all over the place. I should have said men in the United States because in other societies it is natural.

My sister claims to be a Tree Hugger. That is another good thing. You can learn how to hug a tree here. It is most interesting that its category is Holistic Healing.

I had another former student who signs his e-mails Hugs. He understands the importance of hugging. You can see that I found a lot on the internet about hugging. One of my favorite sites is here. but my favorite thing I found is the Free Hugs Campaign video which you can also read about on Wikipedia.

So go out and Hug someone. It will brighten their day and yours. Spread the love. I want to thank everyone who ever gave me a hug. I did not realize just how important it was to everything. HUGS to you all. j