Julie M Anderson

Describe a positive thing a family member has done for you.

My family, not the additional that I have created, are not “huggers”.

I took psychology in high school and learned about this thing called skin hunger. Seems that human beings actually require physical contact for emotional and physical well-being. Go figure. I sure didn’t know that.

Fast forward through time, an abundance of failed relationships, and I have a son. He was tiny. He was 7 weeks premature. The hospital kept him in a life support chamber for a month, keeping him alive until he could survive on the outside on his own.

I loved that little person so much. Almost never putting him down. And he loved and held me back. It was like all of the things I had needed were finally available to me.

And the attack hugs? I love them. The sneaky. The unplanned. The pre-meditated. All of them.

I love hugging my kids. Even the ones that tell me now that I’m short.