Brady P. Tells You What

Hi!

This is Braeden.

I am good.

I am really good.  I have a super good life.

Mommy and Craig love me and I get to play with other kids.  I get to flip my turtle and go for hikes with Mom.  My mom is sweet and she loves me and I love her.

Daddy and Kelsi love me too.  I get to go swimming and drive excavators with Daddy.  I get to play with my little brother Cedar and snuggle with my puppy at night.

I get to eat berries right from the bushes.  Not thimbleberries though.  I give those away.  I just like raspberries and blueberries and bilberries.  They are so yummy.

I get to play outside a lot.  I am getting good at hitting my ball off the tee with a bat.  And pitching to Mommy.  She can hit it far.

I like when it's sunny outside.  Sometimes it's rainy, but that feels nice for a little bit.  Then it gets sunny again.

I get to pee in the bushes.  I am learning how to go pee in the potty, but I like to pee in the bushes better.  Then I can aim on the leaves and watch them wiggle and get them wet.  I am good at aiming at leaves.  There is one heart-shaped leaf that I like to pee on in the yard.  I get it wet every time.

I have a really lot of love to give.  I like to give hugs to show love.  When I see a person walking who looks like they need a hug, I go right up to them and give them a hug.  My mom shouts, "he's going to hug you!" like they might be afraid of me, but I just get good hugs back.  

It's a good way to feel another person's heart.  People love my hugs.  I mostly hug my friends, but sometimes I see a person who I don't know their name, but I feel like I know their heart, so I hug them to see if they remember mine.  I like when they look at me and I can see it in their eyes that they know my love.  They smile a really nice smile.  Sometimes with a tear.  They say it makes their day, and it makes mine too.

I like to eat ice cream.  It is so yummy.  I would eat ice cream all day long, but Mommy won't let me.  Sometimes I have to finish my schoolwork first or listen to Mommy before I get ice cream.  She says it's a treat, not a food.  Sometimes we eat it together.  Craig said that if I go poop on the potty, I will get ice cream no matter what time of day it is.  I did not poop in the potty yet for a while, but I still think about ice cream.

Okay, I got stuff to do, so bye!

Sky diving in his dreams

The Power of Hugs

"Braeden, can I have a hug?" any one of his many admirers will ask. 

If he is busy with other things, he might decline, but usually he will walk right over to the person who asked, put his arms up and wrap them around the person's neck.  Sometimes he even pats their back with his right hand.

"Oh, you give the best hugs, Braeden!" they will often say after his brief (or sometimes lingering) embrace.

Because, you know what?  He does give the best hugs.  He hugs from the bottom of his heart.  Brady P. knows what a hug is for, and he genuinely transfers his love to the other person -- melting them from the inside.

"Oh, you just made my day!" they will sometimes say.  That's a big compliment.  All those things are.

And for that person to recognize the value in that meaningful moment means a lot to me.  It is one seemingly small thing that makes us as humans feel connected to each other.

A hug says a lot about a person.

A hug is both giving and receiving at the same time.

It is a wordless connection between two people.  

A meeting of hearts, whether brief or drawn out.

You don't always get what you put into a hug.  And you don't always give what you get.

Some people think that a hug is a formality.  Like, "Oh, they're family, so I'm obligated" or "Well, I haven't seen them for years, so it would be rude not to give them a hug."

A forced hug is a fake hug.  You may as well not even bother.  It can be awkward

If both people mean it, it helps save the world.

I am not kidding.

A true hug causes two souls to connect on the physical plane. What happens between those two people can be very emotional.

Think about the reasons we hug:

• To say good-bye
• To say hello
• To say I'm sorry
• To offer emotional support

There can be more, but I think those are the biggies.  Those situations can be emotional in themselves.  But when you unabashedly press your chest into someone else's while your arms are wrapped around their shoulders or torso and you squeeze your fingers into their body and bury your face in their neck and smell their scent and feel their energy, well, that causes ripples in the universe.

If the hug is genuine and pure in intention, it makes positive ripples... that help save the world.

Just think about this for one moment.  Pretend that every single person on this earth turned to the person next to them, (with no one left out) and gave them a hug as sincere as the one I just mentioned.

A hug with no judgements.  A hug just focused on connecting with another person and feeling what that truly means.

At that moment, when the whole world is hugging, what do you think would happen on earth?  It would be a big ball of love and satisfaction with no room for hate or loneliness. Wouldn't that be so wonderful?  The animals would probably notice and all hug each other too.

But wait.

What if every single person on this earth loved it so much that they then found another person to hug?  And they just all kept hugging other people for a few more minutes.  Don't you think that would boost moral?  Don't you think there would be peace on earth for a little while?

I think it would last even longer.

It would be wonderful.  It fills my heart just thinking about it.

I just googled it and found that there is actually a National Hugging Day.  It was founded in 1986 and is celebrated on January 21st.  But once a year is not enough.

How do you give a hug?  Are you all in?  Do you shake the other person around a bit in your arms?  Are you always the last to let go?  Are you the first to let go?  Do you stay as far from the person as a hug will permit?

Pay attention next time, if you aren't sure.  Or, heck.  Just find someone to hug right now if you genuinely want to. 

Brady P. knows how to give a hug.  So do I.  And so do many other people I know.  Some people are such good huggers that I think about them when I need a hug.  The energy manifested in a hug is that powerful.  It can draw tears.

I encourage you to be that good of a hugger.  You will make a difference in someone's life each time you hug.  Then, my friend, then we will be that much closer to saving the world... one heart at a time.