32 years ago today, the first National Hugging Day was celebrated, founded by a minister and social services worker in Michigan, the Hugging Day website named Jana Doolittle “the Most Huggable” person because, as a third grade teacher, she always asks her class, “Does anyone need a hug today?”
This year, though, we nominate a man from New Jersey who calls himself Dr. Hug—and when you hear his story, you’ll probably agree that he deserves to be the spokesperson of the holiday forevermore.
An attorney from New Jersey, he was inspired by his parents who raised him and his three brothers with the most exciting daily hugs a child could imagine.
“We shared these hugs from the time I was born,” Dr. Hug told Good News Network. “And we are passing them on to our children.
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He looked on the internet and could find no other special hugs out there, so he decided to pen a book that would pass along this 3-generation tradition to other families.
“It would be so great if everyone could enjoy these,” he pondered by telephone with GNN.
Equally as fun for the person giving the hug, as the ones who are feeling the love, each embrace is a special kooky gift.
“The first one I remember was the Roller Coaster Hug,” he recalls of his childhood. (You need a couch or bed for this one, so if you fall over, your giggles don’t turn to groans.)
Now, with teenagers of his own, he says they still do many of these hugs—and the same Roller Coaster hug is their favorite too.
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Hugs in the new book include: “Exciting Embraces” like the Helicopter Hug, Tilt-A-Whirl and Rocket Hug; “Sports Squeezes” include the Baseball Swing Hug, Tennis Serve and Backstroke Hug; and “Wrestling Wraps” that include the Headlock Hug, Chicken Wing and Full Nelson Hug.
