Tag Archives: hugs

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Hi Folks:

We’re stealing this short video link from Kalebra Kelby’s blog; we do so unabashedly for two reasons. First, it’s a wonderful  film, and well worth 8 minutes of your time. Make sure you watch to the end of the credits. 🙂 Second, it gives us the opportunity to introduce you to Kalebra’s blog, which is filled with insight, humour and warmth (to name a few).

Enjoy!

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Hugs,
M&M

P.S. After viewing this you may wish to visit our ‘Finding Validation‘ post for more feelinggoodness. 🙂 (that may not be a word, but it should be)

Flowers are Red fits in here too.

P.S. II, the sequel. Mike’s sister Liz passed away 22 years ago today. She would have Loved this movie!

Just Singing, and Hugging… in the Rain!

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Hi Folks:

Last Saturday was our fourth Free Hugs session for 2017, and it also marked a number of firsts! Our usual procedure is to arrive at the Homecoming Memorial, doff extraneous gear, coats, etc, retrieve our Free Hugs posters from their tube, then Marcia assumes her (most glorious) hugging position while Mike makes a few images. That done we wait for the first huggers to arrive. The intervening time has ranged up to several minutes, but in our last few sessions we’ve broken records for the time it takes for our first hugger. At our last session we had someone stop within seconds of getting ready, and we joked that the only way to beat that would be for someone to show up before we were ready. Well, it happened! Not only did we have our first hugger arrive before Mike had a chance to make any photographs, we had someone waiting in the wings so to speak as well! After that surprise we joked that the only way to beat that record would be for people to be there waiting for us before we arrived!!
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Hoppy Easter Hugs!!

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Hi Folks:

Hoppy Easter Hugs, 2017

Hoppy Easter Hugs, 2017

Saturday of this past weekend was the second chance we had to go out hugging this year, and the weather was perfect – both for those out and about enjoying the day and for us! We were out for about 2½ hours and hugged people from an additional 5 countries! So far this year we’ve met hugging ambassadors from 15 countries – 56 countries in total over the 8 eight years we’ve been doing this. In addition to the hugs we continue to appreciate the smiles, the waves, bicycle bells, car beeps… even the neighs of the carriage horses! And this past Saturday another first, as one man came running forward, arms wide, and jumped up into Mike’s embrace, allowing himself to be spun around and around!! We do so love our hugging sessions. Continue Reading →

Hugging Fools

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Hi Folks:

As two fools for spring (and pretty much everything else), we thought it was appropriate we hold our first Free Hugs session on April 1. Truth be told, we had hoped to be out earlier but had to wait on the weather…we certainly had a perfect day for it!!

This is our eighth year of hugging Victorians (and others). Yesterday we hugged people from 10 countries; so far we’ve hugged people from 56 countries (that we know of). Every hug is unique and special, and we appreciate the stories from those who stop to share.  We also wanted to offer a shout out to our first huggers of the day (who arrived within 10 seconds of our unrolling the posters), the mass of hugs we received from the group touring from China, the little boy who is a self-professed hugger, the dog hugs (and face lick), the honks and waves from passing motorists and the carriage drivers, our favourite pedicab driver, the air hugs from across the street (and those who crossed the street to get hugs), the cyclists who stopped for hugs, and the best compliment of the day, from the man who said, “Thanks for helping to tear down the walls between us.” It all meant a lot.

Last year was our biggest hugging year ever. We’ll do our best to top it this year! So if you’re over by the Homecoming Statue at Ship Point and you see us there, stop by for a chat, a wave, a handshake and even a hug! Or two… 🙂

Hugs,
M&M

P.S. (to Stephanie, good luck with your thesis!!)

Group Hug

Group Hug

Free Hugs on Black Friday

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Hi Folks:

Free hugs on Black Friday – the ultimate irony? Perhaps not, but we had fun anyway. It’s true we had a certain resemblance to the Michelin Man with the layers we were wearing and Marcia had to trade in her signature sun hat for a set of ear muffins but she was still as beautiful as always.

Free Hugs on Black Friday
The cruise ship season is over and being a weekday afternoon it wasn’t as busy a day as some we’ve had, but every hug we share is unique and special to us. Our thanks to everyone who stopped by Friday afternoon, all of the people who offered hugs, honks, waves, bicycle horn beeps and greetings… and special thanks to the three people who pulled over just for hugs!

We’ve never before done a Free Hugs session in November. Depending on the weather we may do another one next month; it’s about time to get that red suit back from the cleaners anyway. Remember to hug someone you love today. Or a stranger. Or, preferably, both!! 🙂

Hugs,
M&M

It’s Our Birthday!!

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Hi Folks!

It’s our birthday! Our blog is 7 years old today!! We’ve definitely moved beyond toddler stage; in the past seven years we’ve published 513 blog posts and 138 pages of stories and poems and the like, and there’s plenty more where those came from… 😉 In the past seven years we’ve written on a variety of topics, from photography and software tutorials to random thoughts, insightful news, and (of course) Free Hugs. Thanks so much to you for continuing to come and visit and share with us.

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Hugging the Royals… (almost)

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Hi Folks:

Victoria’s October rains are among us once again, which is very good for the aquifer but not so good for hugging (even though we did get our new posters laminated). Once we get a free day that’s clear we’ll be back out again!

As it happened, our two most recent hugging sessions coincided with the arrival and departure of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and family on their tour of Canada. We knew something was up when we saw the legislature grounds being set up the day before their arrival, but needs must so the following day we headed to our usual location at the Homecoming Memorial. We had thought they might get time in their schedule to come and see us, but alas it was not to be. Nonetheless, we had a steady stream of people passing by on their way downtown so we had a wonderfully busy afternoon! Continue Reading →

Hugging Kelowna

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Hi Folks:

Well, since Mike’s mother’s birthday is in September, a week or so ago we departed our little island hideaway for the Okanagan valley. And (for the first time in seven years) our ‘Free Hugs‘ posters departed the island with us. Our Hug Certificates have been downloaded and given out by people all over the world, but we’d yet to do a ‘Free Hugs’ session outside of Victoria. It was time!

Hugging Kelowna

Hugging Kelowna

Mike’s mom was a great sport, not only indulging us in our madness but willingly joining in. We set up by the Sails sculpture off Bernard Street, down by Lake Okanagan. When we do our hugging sessions, we offer but people have to come to us. Those who aren’t interested are welcome to simply pass us by and continue on their way. This location offered us ample space for people to move around us and a bench for Mike’s mom to sit when she tired of standing. We had a lot of fun, and hugged Kelowna tourists and locals alike! We’ll have to remember to bring our posters the next time we go traveling… 🙂

Hugs,
M&M

P.S. Many thanks to the entire(?) wait staff at Earl’s Kitchen + Bar for coming out and hugging us en masse!