Lockdown brought relief at being able to skip unwanted hugs … until I craved connection
Pre-pandemic, I didn’t really distinguish between a hug from a loved one and a bodily restraint. My reluctance to be embraced was well known to friends and family, and immediately obvious to anyone who tried.
“You stood as far away as a person can stand from another person, while in physical contact with them,” a boyfriend once said of our first date.
