Love is Universal

Posted on July 10, 2016 by Mike Nelson Pedde — Leave a reply

Love is the one thing that connects us all.

Hi Folks:

The video below from Atlanta Buzz, streamed live on Facebook, has been seen more than 27 million times (so far). If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth watching. If you have, it’s worth tucking away in a quiet corner for the next time you need a little uplifting. Last Friday hundreds of people came to Thanks-Giving Square to honour the five Dallas police officers who were killed in the line of duty on July 7, and several officers were on the scene to direct traffic. Very shortly a huge line-up of people stopped to offer appreciation to the officers present and share condolences, handshakes and hugs.

Wherever you are today, we send you love.

Hugs,
M&M

P.S. In seven years of hugging locals and visitors to our fair city, so far we’ve share Free Hugs with people from 53 countries (that we know about). All it takes is a piece of cardboard, a marker, a little courage and an open heart.

International Free Hugs Day, 2016

Posted on July 5, 2016 by Mike Nelson Pedde — Leave a reply

Hi Folks:

As last Saturday (the first Saturday in July) was International Free Hugs Day, we were out at our usual location (Victoria’s Homecoming Memorial, by Ship Point) offering hugs to locals and visitors alike. This was our 9th hugging session this year, but because it was International Free Hugs Day we extended an invitation to friends and members of our local photography group to come and join us… and join us they did! Continue Reading →

The Why of Hugging

Posted on June 28, 2016 by Mike Nelson Pedde — 2 Comments ↓

Hi Folks:

In our last ‘Free Hugs’ post we detailed the process of making our new ‘Free Hugs’ posters. Below we have the lovely Marcia modeling one of them for us.

New Posters in Action!

We’ve been offering free hugs to locals and visitors (and other species) for seven years now, and (without question 🙂 ) the one question we get asked more than any other is, “Why are you doing this?” Continue Reading →

New Posters: For the Love of Hugs

Posted on June 12, 2016 by Mike Nelson Pedde — Leave a reply

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.

Continue Reading →

Hugging Victoria, 2016!

Posted on April 6, 2016 by Mike Nelson Pedde — 2 Comments ↓

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!

Continue Reading →

Hug School for Dads

Posted on November 6, 2015 by Mike Nelson Pedde — 3 Comments ↓

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

International Free Hugs Day, 2015

Posted on July 6, 2015 by Mike Nelson Pedde — Leave a reply

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…!

Continue Reading →

Free Hugs in Newark, Delaware

Posted on May 16, 2015 by Mike Nelson Pedde — Leave a reply

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

The Art of Giving

Posted on February 14, 2015 by Mike Nelson Pedde — 2 Comments ↓

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.
Continue Reading →

Free Hugs for Devonte Hart

Posted on December 4, 2014 by Mike Nelson Pedde — 2 Comments ↓

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.