The Embrace I Never Knew I Needed:

I used to wonder why touch felt unfamiliar — why affection stirred a strange discomfort inside me, like something I both longed for and feared. I didn’t grow up in a home full of hugs or gentle words. Warmth, in many ways, felt foreign.

For decades, I thought it was just me — that something in me was broken or too needy. But recently, I stumbled across research that changed everything. It spoke of a time, not so long ago, when mothers in Germany were taught not to hold their babies. Cuddling was discouraged. Smiling too much was considered spoiling. And grief washed over me like a tide I didn’t see coming.