it was definitely a day for hugging back. definitely.

That’s the title of this blog post for those of you who may be new to this site.

For those of you who already know me, it’s:

Man, That Was Fucking Amazing!

See the benefit of knowing me?

Ok, so, here’s an update. Today was the last day of my project, I Am the Fourth, that I did for the members of The Village (a program of Mental Health America). Today is the day I got to deliver the prints. Of course I have to blog about this, but really, I was thinking on the drive home, “what am I going to say?”

To say it was amazing is insufficient at best (“lame” is more like it). I mean, I’m sitting here with the a horror movie on, the sound off, and my 70s mix playing on my computer (and yes, Bee Gees and The Captain & Tenille are in that mix), and I’m trying to put into words this feeling I have without sounding trite or sappy or stupid and I don’t know if there’s even a way for me to verbalize it. That’s a big deal. The list of “Things That Make Susan Speechless, For Real” has so far, in all of 51 years, accumulated only one permanent resident: GW Bush.

I’m not a people person, at least, I’ve never thought of myself as one. I’m not mushy. When strangers hug me, I don’t hug back. I have been known (truly, this is true) to make little children cry just by saying “hi” to them in the store. We have a saying in my family: “Susan’s not a people person; she’s a dead people person.” (That’s a nod to my preference to stay home and watch horror movies than go out and, you know, socialize.)

Today, I am humbled. I feel blessed by the Universe. I feel that I did something that was more than taking a picture and giving someone a print. I feel that I became a better person today. Not because I did something for someone else, but because a bunch of people did something for me. They elevated me. They helped me rise above myself and become a better person. Hang in here with me for a few, because I always write these posts in a stream of consciousness and I may be approaching an epiphany.

I mean, I get mad when I have to reset my Roku. A streaming movie that skips can, and has, ruined my evening. But today I gave a woman a framed photo of herself, and she hugged me. And as she walked away, she said, “I’ve  never had a photo of myself.”

Yeah.

I think that sums up really well what I’m feeling today. And yeah, today, I hugged back.

Photo gallery to come. Not today though; today I’m going to spend the day counting my blessings, starting with the two who are at my feet, begging for a slice of orange.

 

These photos are a gift that I was given today: Hilary, that sneaky woman over at The Village, made copies of my blog and had everyone whose portrait I took secretly write a thank-you to me as they were signing their model releases. I had no idea she did this, and I’ve read only a few of the pages so far, but I’m going to savor them all today. For many days, and years, to come.