You've heard the phrase: "Look it up in your Funk & Wagnalls." By my desk in the River Room is a 1905 Funk & Wagnalls Vest-Pocket Standard Dictionary. I looked for the definition of the word "hug" and was greeted with the terse answer: "clasp; embrace."

Ho hum. A hug means a lot more than that to me. Onward to Webster's New World College Dictionary: "hug. Transitive verb. 1. to put the arms around and hold closely; esp., to embrace tightly and affectionately." That's a lot better.

After our first morning kiss today, my wife, Kaye, and I hugged "tightly and affectionately" and I asked, "What shall I write about for Sunday's column?" Her immediate response was as straightforward as the Funk & Wagnalls definition. "Hugs," she answered with profound love and a twinkle in her beautiful eyes.

How many hugs do you suppose we've exchanged since our marriage day? Doctors decided some time ago that hugging is good for your health. We not only believe it, but we hope that we are living examples.

Those who know me are fully aware that I am a hugger. For me, gender is no obstacle, and I give as many "man hugs" as any other kind.

SOCIAL CONTACT
It wasn't always that way. As a youngster being brought up in a fundamental protestant faith, any public show of affection was not only discouraged, it was virtually verboten. We knew our parents loved us, but nurturing had a much different meaning back in that day.

Times were tough when I was born toward the end of the Great Depression. And our lives were somewhat stark, with endless religious rules that, by today's standards, seem stifling and even ludicrous. But that's the way it was.

We came to appreciate and understand the value of hugs much later in our lives and have cherished them ever since. If we were a bit stingy with our hugs previously, we made up for it after some family tragedies in the late 1980s. Our family, friends and people we had never met before gave us heartfelt hugs that sustained us, and we vowed never to stop hugging after that.

Science explains the process that occurs within our minds and bodies when we hug, but we sense that innately and, the older we get, the more we realize that humans just need the social contact involved in hugging.

I'll never forget a photo I saw once involving premature twins. One was healthier than the other and they were at first placed in separate incubators. A nurse decided to break protocol and put them together. The resulting photo shows the more robust baby with its arm around the other. The happy ending was that the hugging led to abrupt and positive changes in the weaker baby's vital signs and health. In that case and in many others, a picture is truly worth a thousand words.

MAN HUGS

Here in America, most people still aren't as touchy-feely in public as Kaye and I are. I read somewhere that French couples touch more than three times as often as Americans when walking down the street or in restaurants. Kaye and I always walk hand-in-hand and try to make our lifelong bond tastefully obvious to everyone.

I have many male friends and family members and our so-called "man hugs" are expressions of a kind that can't be shown by mere handshakes. Of course, man hugs must include a couple of firm pats on the back that are missing when men and women hug.

I'm not sure how I feel about individuals I've read about who hang a poster around their necks proclaiming, "Free Hugs" and stand on street corners. But we all need hugs, and if the person with the sign has bathed recently and doesn't carry the swine flu bug, I guess I'm okay with the concept.

I've noticed that teenagers, especially girls, hug a lot when they meet and greet and, in some school settings, that has been discouraged. Too bad.

With the recent flu threat, we don't even exchange the sign of peace in church these days.

Books have been written about hugging, cuddling and even "spooning," which involves huggers who are both facing in the same direction."

I love the following lines from a poem written by Jill Wolfe: "And hugs don't need new equipment, Special batteries or parts — Just open up your arms And open up your hearts." Amen to that.

Have a great hugging day and please, drive carefully.

Gordie Little was for many years a well-known radio personality in the North Country and now hosts the "Our Little Corner" television program for Home Town Cable. Anyone with comments for him may send them to the newspaper or e-mail him at gordandk@aol.com.