Hi Folks:
Well, this being our 7th year of hugging Victorians (and anyone else who’s interested), we decided to update our FREE HUGS posters. The old ones have served us well, but they’re definitely showing their age. At the risk of overstating the obvious, all you need to make a poster is a pen or a marker and something flat enough to write on… but as the saying goes, “The Walk is Part of the Gift“. To that end, we wanted to put some effort into our new posters.
Hi Folks! This is our (drum roll…) seventh year of hugging Victorians and everyone else who wanders by and wants one! We still remember how terrified we were on our first hugging adventure, and how enervated we are now when the opportunity presents itself. We didn’t have as many opportunities last year as we would have liked, but in 2014 we hugged people from 41 countries (that we know about). We wanted to get a jump on things this year, and since we’ve been having such lovely weather lately, we went out on our earliest ever Hugging session on April 2. Well, we hugged people from Victoria and other places on the island, people from mainland BC, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. We hugged neighbours from Washington and Montana, and neighbours from as far away as South Carolina. And we hugged people from Brazil, Chile, China, India, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Romania, Thailand and Vietnam. Thirteen countries so far, and that’s only our first outing!
Hi Folks:
We recently came across the following article, and as avid huggers ourselves we just had to share it with you! One of Mike’s old friends had never been hugged by her father for her entire life, well, until Mike came along… 🙂 It wasn’t about love; that was obvious. It was simply that he’d grown up in a time and in a world where he was never taught how – even more, that it was okay. Now, there are a number of different ways to hug, from the back to front hug to the running hug to… but the basic instructions are simple. Open your arms, and invite someone to walk into them. Close your arms around them. Share the moment. Repeat.
Hug School for Dads (click on the image to read the article)
Remember to hug the ones you love today, or a stranger, or, preferably, both!
Hugs,
M&M
Hi Folks: As you likely know, last Saturday (July 4) was a pretty special day. Not only is it our son’s birthday, but it was International Free Hugs Day! (the first Saturday in July every year). As we’ve done for the past six years, we took our Free Hugs posters downtown to the Homecoming Statue at Ship Point and shared hugs with an amazing group of people.
Basic Hugging Attire – Poster, Sun Hat, Winning Smile…!
Too good not to share. Hug someone you love today. Or a stranger. Or, preferably, both!!
#HugACop in Newark, DE
(click the image to see the video)
Sending Hugs from Victoria to Newark, and to anyone else who wants one!!
M&M
Hi Folks:
It’s been a while since we’ve done a post that attempts to jam several somewhat-related ideas into one piece so it must be time for another one! The title for this post was inspired by a rather erudite nine-year-old girl (Julia Wolfe), so we’ll start with her.
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Hi Folks:
You’ve probably seen this image floating around the net, but if you haven’t it’s worth sharing again. We highly recommend you click on the photo to read the story behind it. We’ll wait.
Portland, OR Police Sgt. Bret Barnum hugging 12-year-old Devonte Hart – click on the image to read the story behind it from The Oregonian/OregonLive.
Hi Folks:
Okay, we’ll admit it. We’d heard the rumours, of course… spotted people converging in the area… we’d even overheard the conspiratorial whispers of those who claimed to have glimpsed a sighting. We’ve done the research, read the news reports and arranged our own observations with great anticipation, all for naught. Until yesterday. We can now confirm the truth, and we have incontrovertible proof! Victoria has (yet) another ‘Free Hugs’ person!
Hugging James Bay
Who is this (unmasked) woman you ask? Well, you’ll have to wait and ask her yourself. We can tell you, by her own admission, that she comes out to James Bay Square at least once a month, so you’ll have to be patient if you don’t see her on your first foray. She shares great hugs, so your efforts will be well rewarded!
Hugs,
M&M
Hi Folks:
Last Thursday was our ninth hugging session this year. So far this year we’ve hugged people from 41 countries (that we know about): Australia, Austria, Argentina, Bahamas, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, China, Columbia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Latvia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Scotland, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, Ukraine, the US, Venezuela, Vietnam and Wales – and we always welcome more!
Hugging Victoria!
Thursday was special in another way, however, because after our hugging session we headed over to Open Space to meet hitchBOT!
Hi Folks:
Well, this is our fifth year of hugging Victorians (and others); mid-July and we’ve already had six free hugs sessions this year!
Basic Hugging Attire – Poster, Sun Hat, Winning Smile…!