Warm embrace… A poem

A hug is a gift

Warm and cozy

A hug is a gift

Makes me feel rosy

A hug is a gift

That costs nothing

A hug is a gift

It is something

A hug is a gift

I can give

A hug is a gift

Makes it nice to live

A hug is a gift

From your mother

A hug is a gift

With your lover or brother

A hug is a gift

Shared with another

A hug is a gift

We all need

A hug is a gift

I sure could use

A hug is a gift

I share with you

☻

I wanted to express a thought or two, as I reflected on the last two days my life it seems is so beautiful in so many ways.

 

G. T. Reynolds, I am going to go out on a limb and say many of the people on this earth have not heard of him. G.T. is a very beautiful human being, at 86 years he has seen much and lived a truly amazing life. His wife died some time back, he retired from his many jobs one of them being as a religious leader in his church. I met G.T. as he cleaned the parking lot and grounds of a church near where I am staying at the moment. I went over to the church as he cleaned the parking lot just to say hi and thank you for doing such a beautiful thing for the church and for the earth.

We started talking and I listened as he shared the thought that he was saving the church money by doing this service and he was doing something to help the community as well as himself by keeping busy. He explained that at his age nobody wanted him to do anything nor did they want him to be a part of the business they did even though he truly wanted to work and be productive. He told me of his youth and becoming a Marine, I shared some stories as did he about our time in the military, basic training and the like and he shared some stories of the Korean War he took part in and the reality of war.

 

As we talked religion became the focus of his thoughts and he was as his religion dictates trying to convert me to his perception of the only true church and his faith that Jesus was the only path to heaven in all of its glory and the kingdoms there of. As he shared his thoughts I listened with an open mind and shared my thoughts in return regarding his religion in the most loving way I knew how. I asked him what was going to happen to the other 7.5 billion of us?

 

What happened next as he took off his glove to shake my hand and leave was in my heart a miracle of sorts. We had been looking each other in the eye as we talked for an hour or two he knew my family was very prominent in his church he also knew I chose not to be a member and why. For the first time in my life I knew as a human being that my friend G.T. knew the beauty of my soul as I knew his. We looked each other in the eye and he asked did I know him and what did I see, A single tear flowed down both of our cheeks as I said I see me as you see you, he reached out his arms and we hugged as he said “I love you” and I said  “I love you too’.

 

I sat earlier today thinking about how beautiful that hug was and the sentiment behind it, recalling the times in my life when such a powerful man had given me such a hug. The truth is many men have hugged me, from G.T. to a big burley Harley riding preacher to my sons and many in between. There are two men however that I never got to share such a gift with, three if you count my father, my step dad and my grandfather make the three. I hadn’t realized that my grandpa never shared a hug with me until recently when my brother shed a tear over a memory from his childhood. He needed a hug at a time when we had no man in our lives other than our grandpa, my brother went to give him a hug and was pushed away, men don’t hug men he told him. I suppose I never thought about it till my brother and I shared a hug after the conversation.

I have not had a hug in some time until my hug with G.T. and had been longing for a hug from a woman and the comfortable feeling that comes from that embrace. I got a gift that gave me a lifetimes worth of warmth and comfort when I looked into the eyes and embraced my dear friend G.T. Reynolds, Marine, father, great grandfather, grandfather man and beautiful human being, as well as the soul and spirit that he shares with me. Thank you Universe for sharing such a beautiful gift with me.

I thank you all for allowing me to share my thoughts and perhaps a smile, as I learn a deeper love of who I am and who you are I wanted to share a hug of sorts thus the poetic expression of the gift a hug is to me. I also wanted to share the gift of an 86 year old man that is absolutely amazing and the gift of sharing with such a wise and beautiful being. I also want to say thank you all for sharing your love and your smiles, they are truly as are you making our world a better place for all we share it with. Than k you for being the change positive our world needs. J Joe