Hugs vs. Kisses

I didn't come from a huggy-kissy family except for crisis time. Somehow having a crisis just to get a hug doesn't make much sense unless you're a drama queen, which I'm not.

As an adult I ran into a family and a friend that was very huggy and I loved it. A hello hug, a good bye hug, a have a good day hug, sorry it was a sh-t day hug, a tell me about it hug, thanks for the cuppa, a hug for hug's sake...any reason for hugs worked. Men-women, women-women, young-old, same-age it doesn't matter.


Fast forward to moves to France and Switzerland the two cheek (right/left France) and three cheek (right/left/right Switzerland) countries not just in place of hugs but in place of hand shakes. Men even will kiss if they are in the same family or exceptional friends. I like that too.

But I miss hugs although Son No. 2 and Rick give great hug, the kind you can snuggle into.

Yesterday I met with a very talented young writer/artist from the UK who now lives here. We did the two kiss thing but perhaps because I'm heading back to Switzerland I almost did the third kiss. It usually takes me a couple of days to do the kiss-switch when I change countries.

We talked about the kiss cheeks.

"No hugs," she said with a note of sadness in her voice.

"I miss hugs," I said.

We had our drinks, our talk, a few laughs, a good catch up on our lives and left the tearoom. As we started to saying good bye we leaned forward to begin the kiss cheek routine.

A second later we had a good hug. Felt great for me. I hope it felt great for her.