Visions Medical Center

I love a story told by Sue Monk Kidd about her preacher husband. She was going through a particularly sticky patch in her spiritual growth and he came home from work one night and found her sitting silently on her bed with tears streaming down her face.

He didn’t try to comfort her, knowing that she needed to cry those tears. Instead he sat next to her silently for a few minutes. Then, he reached toward her with one finger and caught a rivulet of tears. He took his finger and touched his own cheek letting her tears fall down his face.

Isn’t that beautiful?

When my sweetie and I get into a tussle that doesn’t seem resolvable, a good ninety percent of the time, a touch of understanding changes the tension. I’ll stroke tense back muscles, or gently pull hair to release scalp tension. Holding my feet almost always calms me.

Touch is the great, silent communicator, and it can be trusted especially when words can’t. AT&T was right: reach out and touch someone.