"No man is an island, entire of
itself; every man is a piece of the continent."
~ John Donne
"I have learned that there is more power in a good strong hug than in a thousand meaningful words."
~ Ann Hood
On a recent
Saturday morning, I attended the funeral Mass for a high school friend's
mother. A friend of mine told me she was
going, but when I walked in and didn't see her, I sat by myself at the end
of a pew toward the back of the church.
When the moment came for people to exchange the Sign of Peace, an old
friend came across the aisle and through the pew to give me a big bear
hug. (He happens to be quite tall.) He also shared a hug with another friend of ours who
was sitting by himself behind me.
"You can't be islands over here by yourselves," he said. My bear hug friend is an old friend from our
high school days who I sometimes don't see for years at a time, but whenever I
do see him, it is as though we have just seen each other. I was touched by the hug and by his reaching
out to us unintentional "islands."
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