Good Men

I listened to a 15-minute podcast yesterday about two men hugging in a hallway.

They’d both lost their moms.

One was a young man, a high school student who had shut himself down in every way. The other was a football coach who “didn’t normally do that sort of thing.”

There were no words. The coach quietly summoned the boy into the hallway with the wave of two fingers. It was in the middle of the day, during weight training. No pep talk. They just held onto each other.

20 years later they talked on the phone. They both cried and said I love you. Then the podcaster said I love you. And me, alone in my kitchen, I cried a bit too, and said I love you.

Virtual hug, said the podcaster. Hell yeah.

So much wrong with the world but I really believe this — this sappy, storybook moment between two men is what we all need, what the planet needs — more men hugging in hallways, connecting through tears.

I had a good cry with my dad the other day, watching a little girl sing on American Idol. Unexpected, uncontrolled. Kind of ridiculous. It felt fucking great.

We were changing the world in that moment.

Still are.