Hugs

A hug makes an ideal gift. One size fits all and exchanges are encouraged.

I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday. This person is a relatively new friend. He's someone I worked with at Company South. He and I were discussing friendships. I was explaining to him that the people with whom I choose to surround myself are very dear to me. I told him that I don't really have people around who I don't particularly care for. Of course there are acquaintances - people you meet in passing or that you see every now and again but they don't have a place in my life like my true friends do.

I explained to him that they are all friends that I would do anything to help. They are the kind of friends that I would get up in the middle of the night and help in a moment's notice. They are the people that I hug and kiss hello when I see them and I tell them I love them when I say good-bye.

I told him about how I've lost three brothers and both parents and that I know how quickly things can change. I want every one of the people I care about to know that they are important to me.

I was moved yesterday when I received a call from Young Stud. He was calling to check on me to see if I was okay knowing my job at Company South had ended. When I looked down at my cell and saw it was him calling, a huge smile found its way across my face. When I heard the sound of his voice, everything else just melted away and the only two people who were important at that juncture were he and I.

Young Stud is special to me in a way that some of my other Boys aren't. Those reasons are strictly for Young Stud and I to share. As I was saying good-bye to him on the phone, it hit me how much I want him to know that he is very, very special to me. I realized the power of telling someone you love them and how when you speak those words, no other words are necessary.

So when you are with a good friend today, give them a kiss and a hug when you say hello. Let them know they are important to you. Who knows, it may come at a time when they're feeling all is lost and your hug may see them through another day.