When Nothing But A Hug Will Do

It's been a while. Life in Chicago finally slowed down a bit the last two weeks. Our bosses were both out of town which slowed work way down. It's much harder to have conversation and get the answers you need when you're juggling time zones, meetings, availability in general. Overall, it was nice to relax a bit but frustrating to not see progress with your work. We're at that stage that budgets HAVE to be approved, orders HAVE to go in, money HAS to be spent or we won't have anything when 36,000 kids show up in New Orleans. Scary. On the other hand, I had lots of time to be reading website upon website and learning tons of things about what different groups are doing to fight the social injustices seen in our world. And Pandora is my new best friend at work.

This last week has been really great. I discovered about two weeks ago exactly the one thing I've been missing the most. A hug. I've decided that I get completely spoiled in Florida, from school to home, there is ALWAYS someone there to give you a hug when you need it, and even when you think you don't. The last hug I had was when I dropped Kaitlin off at O'Hare on May 31st. That was until Tuesday. Four whole weeks later. It seems silly I know, but it taught me something incredible about the power of human connection and community. Sure a smile can make your day but sometimes you need to have that reassurance that only a hug can bring. We all have a need to feel connected to one another and the way that is displayed varies from person to person. I needed a hug. It came in due time from an unlikely source that I'm so thankful for.

Tuesday, I saw an old family friend of ours for the first time in about 13 years. Heidi's son, Andrew, plays professional soccer for the Chicago Fire and she was in town for the week to see him and catch a couple of his games. By the wonders of Facebook no less Andrew and I had reconnected barely but it was a means of communication. I randomly told Andrew that Lana and I and her boyfriend had wanted to come to the game on Tuesday and it worked out perfectly that his mom was going to be there too. He arranged for a ticket for me and we saw a great game (the Fire won) and I finally got my hug the moment I walked to my seat in Toyota Park.

The Dykstras then continued to spoil me all week - the game Tuesday, made me dinner at Andrew's on Thursday, game and dinner and even my very own Chicago Fire tshirt on Saturday. It was great to have that reminder of "family". I mean 13 years...Andrew and I had to completely reintroduce ourselves to each other because we were like 10 the last time we saw each other. But then we all just picked up like it wasn't nearly that long. And we got to celebrate Andrew's success. He had come into the team in March/April as the 3rd goalkeeper. He was promoted to 2nd about the time I moved here, but there was still a chance that it could be lost just as quickly. On Friday they found out that the other keeper (original #2 then moved to #3) had been released from the team and Andrew's spot was solidified. Hard to take in in some ways, but an amazing opportunity for him. He got to share that with his parents. And even after the team lost on Saturday, he was still all smiles. Family is good, for so many things.

But all of this only got me even more stoked that my Mom is coming to town on Thursday for the holiday weekend. 4 days and counting. I couldn't be more excited. It's The Taste Of Chicago here, and I know it will be insane with people everywhere, but we're going to enjoy it, just like any other tourist. It will be exactly half way through the summer for me, which is so crazy that it's almost here already. In 3 weeks I'll be in New Orleans, and then my summer is pretty much over. So crazy. But I'm most excited for more hugs. Enough to last me the rest of my summer I hope. I'm convinced moms give the best hugs...lucky for me I'll have seen two moms in two weeks!

Remember sometimes only a hug will do. Go hug someone you see today. You never know how long it's been since their last and how much they truly need it.