Family hug!

Back in the earlier innings of my parenting game, we used to call out “family hug” from any room in the house and everyone would come running for a squeeze.

Any member could call it, and every member responded (some of those middle schoolers came with their eyes rolling hard. But they came!)

That’s what this weekend felt like to me, like a big, ole, raucous, joyful hug.

It’s also the way it ended.

People came from coast to coast and a few states in between to join the hug. And my new little granddaughter and I stood right there in the middle of it all, soaking it in.

When you can’t do family dinners every night, or even every week, you tend to inhale that experience in great, glorious, grateful gulps.

That’s what we did, anyway. We ate, played, sang, danced and caught up with each other, filling the rooms with our laughter and love.

We humans need that real, in person connection. It fuels us as we make our way through this old world.

I’d like to thank my family — those who joined me in New Jersey and those who held the fort down back home — for an epic hug.

I’m already looking forward to and planning the next one.

Woo hoo!