Can I just say, and I'm just being honest...

[J a c k]

Quite a few, apparently

Shaaaaaaaaw. Nymph, looky here. When I work Christmas or New Year and it's time to go home, everyone begins to hug before going home. You know what I do? I hide in the restroom until everyone is gone. I always request my birthday off, so nobody can hug me. When I see my mom and dad after months of not seeing them, I give them my usual and awkward three pats in the back hug. I'm famous for awkward hugs. See, hugs make me anxious and tense. I get very stiff. Lately I have really felt like I've missed out. I guess it took a wonderful hug to make me notice that some hugs can be very comforting. I don't always hug, but when I do, it's because humans need each other sometimes. You'll see me once in a while here at AF offer someone a virtual non-awkward hug. I'm not just saying it. I mean that hug. In person, I'd step out of my comfort zone for that hug, and I'm sure it wouldn't be awkward, except for the beat in my chest shouting out that this is definitely not something I do often. When my life is complicated and I struggle to breathe, I come home half the week to an empty house. I love my solitude, but it can get strangely empty sometimes. To know that someone out there would hug me if they could, well, that's not uncomfortable. I appreciate the hell out of it. I spent ten years living under the same roof with a human who never ever hugged. Ever. Non-hugger trained, I must admit that knowing a hug is available even when I'm this fucked up and tangled version of a human, well, that's brick-heart warming. Yeah, hugs are strange. Sometimes they're strangely welcome.