I just want to write a little about an amazing person, my sister-in-law Barb. She’s my brother Jeff’s wife and it is beyond question for me that she laughs more than anyone I have ever met. And it’s incredibly genuine and attractive. She just laughs all the time and giggles and is full of life. I want to write about her because being in her presence teaches me to be more free with my joy. Joy naturally exists in all of us, and I’ve been blessed to feel more and more of that inherent Joy as time goes by. But at times there can be a caution to it. By being in her presence, layers of my own guardedness are revealed and lovingly metabolized.
The other thing that I’ve learned from her is a new way of hugging. When Barb hugs you, it’s almost as if she gets a running start. And what you end up with is a square-on, fully enthused, both-arms-wrapped-around-you-as-far-and-as-snugly-as-they-can hug. It’s like getting sprayed with a fire extinguisher filled with love, but with the capacity to start fires rather than put them out.
I was hugged twice in India by Amma, the Hugging Saint, and while that was a healing and deeply wonderful experience, Barb’s hugs feel more like true human love in all it’s beautiful simplicity and capacity.
Occasionally in life we run across people in our lives who make us rethink our guardedness and help us to open up, both literally and figuratively, in embracing the world. I’m lucky enough to have such a person in my family. Thanks Jeffy for marrying her. You’re a lucky man and you done good. And Jeffy, you’re truly a special one too.