My close family were not at all affectionate, the only way to get a hug and eventually a kiss was on December 31st at twelve o'clock at night. If the first one arrived and it was already one o'clock, rest assured that you missed that detail.

I remember that night they would hug us and say Happy New Year. Then the next day, when they saw someone who had not received the hug, they would say: "How did you receive the year?
Epiphany.

A niece of my grandmother's, who lived in another city, had a different way of treating people. She hugged and kissed everyone. When she came to visit, we would see her stamp a kiss on my grandmother's cheek, my grandmother would not return it, I remember now. I think those thin lips of my grandmother's didn't know how to kiss.

This cousin, older than me, was a contemporary of my mother's and a close friend of hers. She hugged us all and complimented us, we really weren't used to that.

But if my grandmother was quite dry, even more so was one of her daughters, my aunt, who had raised her children in the same style. One day my cousin said to me: "Here comes your cousin, she's going to kiss the shit out of you, I'm not going to let her, but I'm sure you will". To play along, I told him that I wouldn't either and locked myself in my room. Time passed, and the visit was still going on. I had to go out, I was already tired in my hiding place, I was thirsty and hungry. When she saw me, and realised that I didn't come out with the rest to meet her, she was very upset. I felt sorry for her, I didn't imagine she would feel that way.

My cousin laughed a lot at the situation, but I was ashamed because it was not my intention to make her feel bad, but to compete with my cousin. A long time later the cousin, who we now call her aunt, was content again and the matter was never discussed.

The social display of kissing as a form of greeting was formally established, now all people greet each other with hugs and kisses, but there remained in me a certain resistance to the practice. I found it unpleasant to be left with a wet cheek after the greeting. Sometimes there are faces with a beard that requires shaving and they scrape my face in the greeting. I send the kiss into the air, I don't put my lips on anyone's face, unless it's someone I'm very fond of.

Sometimes it makes me uncomfortable when I feel a slight tug on my arm, from the person who expects more effusiveness from me, yes I am also a bit dry for these manifestations. I could very well wear a sign on my forehead saying: Please don't kiss me. Squeezing the hand is an awkward enough gesture as it is, and the Covid showed it. Tell me to stick your lips to someone's face.