A Hug For Humanity

A friend of my wife just called to tell her that her husband just moved out of the house and they’re planning on getting a divorce. My wife was shocked! She’s known this woman for quite some time but never heard her complain about any marital problems.

Externally, to family and friends, they’ve been pretending that everything in their family life is normal. However, for the last two and a half years, this couple hasn’t slept together, or slept in the same room, for that matter!

This situation was so emotionally harrowing for my wife’s friend that at some point in the middle of this nightmare, she finally broke down and told her husband that he doesn’t have to sleep with her but asked him if he could at least give her a hug when he comes home from work and say hello to her.

She could accept no communication, no friendship, no sharing, no encouragement, no romance, no appreciation, no respect, no closeness, no sensitivity, and no attention… but she needed a simple hug and hello to go on… she needed her humanity.

How does the anticipation and promise of marriage disintegrate into something so dysfunctional? How can a simple hug and hello be enough nourishment for a starving woman?