Tag Archives: Victoria

Sharing Free Hugs… in Print!!

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Free Hugs Illustration

Illustration by Sierra Lundy

Hi Folks:

Several months back the folks at Victoria’s Boulevard magazine added a note inviting any of their readers with the ability to tell a story to submit up to three thousand words for a column called Narrative. Each submission would be considered for publication in an upcoming issue. Since we’re both storytellers we agreed that sharing a bit about our hugging adventures would be the best topic for us!! 🫂

Mike cobbled together the bones of our story and Marcia refined and edited it. We came in at 2995 words. Satisfied, we sent it off … and in August we received an e-mail from the Managing Editor, Susan Lundy, letting us know that our article would be included in the October/November issue. Colour us excited!

The article appears on pages 110-112 of the October/November 2021 issue of Boulevard magazine (Victoria). If you live in Victoria you can find them at businesses and street boxes around the city. However, if that’s not possible for you, you can also read it online.

Many thanks to Susan and all of the staff at Boulevard for sharing our story. Remember to hug someone you love today!

Hugs,
M&M

P.S. If we might be so bold, the rest of the magazine is worth reading too!! 🙂

Boulevard magazine, October/November 2021

Victoria’s Boulevard magazine, October/November, 2021

Happy International Free Hugs Day!!

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Hi Folks:

As you all know, the first Saturday in July (today!) is International Free Hugs Day!! Normally (what does that even mean anymore?) that would mean we’d be downtown, by our Hugging Tree, sharing hugs, smiles, waves, handshakes, fist bumps and conversations with locals and tourists alike. Not last year, however, and not today… but soon! The world is starting to re-open, slowly. In the meantime, to paraphrase the song:

If you can’t share hugs with the ones you love, hug the ones you’re with!!

Hugging a Chinese lion, 2019

Hugs,
M&M

P.S. We have a late entry in this year’s Creampuff Derby: our granddaughter, who was born this morning. A most auspicious day!!

Who Were Those Masked Reindeer? I’d Like to Thank Them…

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Hi Folks:

Last Sunday Twinkles and Krinkles decided it was time for their annual festive walkabout downtown. This is the sixth year in a row they’ve done this; their reasoning is that a lot of people lose their smiles this time of year and so Krinkles and Twinkles like to help people recover them. These energetic reindeer have huge hearts and they love nothing more than to share that with others.

We set off from our home in James Bay, and stopped first at Cora’s restaurant on Douglas Street for a fortifying breakfast. Twinkles and Krinkles were welcomed right in (our host has a soft spot for reindeer, especially around Christmas).

Mrs. Claus, Twinkles and Krinkles at Cora's

Mrs. Claus, Twinkles and Krinkles at Cora’s

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Share Virtual Hugs With Loved Ones…

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Hi Folks:

Free Hugs, March 1, 2020

As we mentioned in our last Free Hugs post, this is our 11th calendar year of sharing hugs with locals and visitors to our fair city. However, as the world closed down we – reluctantly – put our posters away, at least for now. In a given hugs session we have the privilege of meeting and interacting with people from up to a dozen countries, but that’s obviously not appropriate at the moment. After our last Free Hugs session we did our self-isolation bit for 14 days. We’re fine; hugs are great medicine. 🙂 Continue Reading →

Happy Random Acts of Kindness Week!!

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Hi Folks:

This is Day 3 of Random Acts of Kindness Week! Monday, being Family Day, of course we went out hugging. As mentioned in a previous post, 2020 marks our 11th calendar year of hugging locals and tourists alike – our 11th year begins officially on June 9, 2020 😉

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Hugging 2020: Bringing Vision

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Hi Folks:

We’ve had so much rain this January that yesterday was our first opportunity to go out hugging this year. We’re not complaining – we’ll appreciate the water supply come summer – but it has put a damper (so to speak) on our hugging activities! Marcia has designated 2020 as a year of vision for her, and 2020 begins our 11th calendar year of sharing hugs with both locals and visitors to our fair city. So far we’ve shared hugs with people from (at least) 88 countries, and just yesterday we got to meet and share hugs with people from Australia, Canada, France, Mexico, Slovakia, U.S. and Venezuela! All of this within the space of an hour. It continues to amaze and delight us. We also had our first vehicle passenger hug for 2020, where a car pulls over, a passenger gets out, runs over for a hug, then dashes back to the car!

Many thanks for all of the smiles, waves, vehicle honks and special thanks to those who took a few moments out of their lives to share them with us. We offer but people have to come to us. We really appreciate it when you do!!

Hugs,
M&M

The Reindeer Take Victoria… Again!!

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Mrs. Claus, Twinkles and Krinkles at Mayfair Mall
Mrs. Claus, Twinkles and Krinkles at Mayfair Mall

Hi Folks:

Well, as the song says, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year…” And while there are many reasons to celebrate the Holiday Season, the transition from shorter days to longer and all that accompanies that, the truth is that this can also be a stressful time of year for many people. People get caught up in the too-short days, the not-enough time, and the hustle and bustle that’s being pushed upon them from all sides. And when they get pushed around too much, sometimes something very sad happens… They lose their smile somewhere along the way. 😪

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More Firsts…

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Hi Folks:

This is our 10th year of hugging Victoria residents and tourists alike, and even though October’s weather has become a little drizzly, this has been our busiest year ever! We’ve had so many amazing moments during our hugging sessions – many already recorded in various posts, but we still have new ones all the time. Thought we should gather a few together and share them with you: Continue Reading →

Seeing Red(s)

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Hi Folks:

Every three years, in July, Northwest Deuce Days comes rolling into Victoria. While it means different things to different people, to the public at large it mostly means a car show with a lot (this year over 1300 vehicles registered) of classic cars. Many of them are Ford 1932 Deuce Coupes, but there is literally a cavalcade of lovingly restored and/or modified vehicles here. Everything culminates with a car show that takes over much of downtown Victoria. If you like classic cars, this is vehicle heaven.

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Turnabout is Fair Play

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Hi Folks:

When we were out hugging for CarFree YYJ, a young woman named Céline saw us standing there with our posters as she passed by. Last Saturday when we were out at our usual location by the Homecoming Memorial, we were lucky enough to run into her again, and she stopped to share a hug with us! And… she mentioned that she and her friend were going to be offering Free Hugs the next day!! How could we refuse such an offer? Of course, we couldn’t. And didn’t. 🙂

Linda, Marcia and Céline

We didn’t want to monopolize their time (or deprive others of their hugging opportunities) but we did have a couple of minutes to chat with them and their friend Alan. As with us they were originally uncertain, and, as with us, those feelings quickly gave way to a range of emotions: that people would thank them for what they were offering, that they would feel appreciation, joy, and love. We live in a society where something as simple as human touch is denied to so many. We did warn them, though – offering Free Hugs can become addictive!

Many thanks to Céline and Linda and Alan for sharing a little bit of their world with us, and for making our world a little better place.

Grouphug!!

M&M