As I write this, I have just returned from a trip to North Carolina. It wasn’t a business trip and it wasn’t a vacation. It was a Mom trip, and I’m not sure who needed it more: the child, or the mom.
It started one night as I was text chatting with my daughter, who goes to college in North Carolina. I had asked how her friends were, and she answered that all was wonderful….and then she hit me with these words:
Not just any old hug, oh no – she wanted a Mommy hug. The kind of hug that only the arms of the woman who has used them to cradle you as an infant, tote you around and push you on the swings as a young child, clutched to her chest in terror during driving lessons, thrown up in celebration as you scored a soccer goal and waved at you as you got on the plane for your first trip without her can give you. My arms. And right behind them, my heart.
It didn’t take long to lay the plans and make the arrangements and in less than 48 hours, I was able to deliver that Mom hug. And while she was the recipient of that hug and all the love that came with it, I found quickly that I needed that hug as much as she did. Because Mom hugs are meant to be given away. To your baby, no matter how old they may be. Sure, you can hug your friends, your doggies and even your spouse. But there is something about that hug between a mom and her child that means so much.
Plus, being the new empty nester that I am, the fact that she wanted me made my heart soar. I wasn’t done after all! She may live hundreds of miles away right now, an be an adult in the eyes of the world, but I was the only one who could deliver that hug and the support and love that came with it. So you bet that I saw that message and went into full Mom mode, moving heaven and earth and a few appointments to be able to deliver that hug.
That wonderful, magical, Mommy hug.
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