Hugs

Our first opening stretch of the season lasted four nights.  We'd had a pretty consistent core group of guests and it was starting to feel very comfortable and a bit like family.  On the last night we were open "Will" arrived later than normal telling us that his father had just passed away.  He'd learned this by seeing his father's obituary in the morning paper.  Like many of our guests, Will's estranged from his family.  Last season, we offered Christmas cards to our guests, saying they could fill them out and we'd mail them, but not one of them took us up on the offer.

People offered their condolences to Will, shaking his hand or giving him a hug.

In the obituary, Will saw his own name listed along with the names of his siblings and  relatives, some of whom he'd never met or heard of.  And he learned that his Dad had died just two days after Will's birthday.  I wondered if Will had thought of his Dad on his birthday, or if his Dad had thought of Will on his deathbed.

In the kitchen that evening, one of our new volunteers mentioned that she volunteers at BC Women's Hospital cuddling newborn babies.  She cuddles babies whose mothers are unable to cuddle them, often because they are active addicts.    I wondered if any of our guests started life without the warmth of a mother's love or how a loving, healing hug from a kind volunteer may have changed the course of their lives.

As I was leaving for home at the end of the evening, I saw in the rear-view mirror a figure running out from the shelter, waving his arms.  It was Will.  I stopped and we talked some more.  He told me that he'd read about his dad just before he attended Sunday service at his church.   The pastor learned of his loss and made an announcement to the congregation.   Afterwards, many people came up to him -- some he'd never met before -- to offer their condolences, shaking his hand or giving him a hug.  He was particularly moved by the hugs from children.   He said it felt very weird to be hugged by a child -- he said he almost felt like a Dad.  He almost felt like crying.