Jen Mullin, right, delivers a hug from Lynn to her Deb, left, her best friend from sixth grade.
Last Friday, Jan. 9, we published, in Dallas Voice and here at DallasVoice.com, a story about an old friend of mine named Jen Mullin who, after losing her job to the pandemic and with it the house under construction in Belize where she planned to spend her retirement years, decided to sell her house in New Jersey and hit the road. She bought herself a used minivan (named Thursday) and is living “the van life.” She posted on social media about having made it to Maine, adding that she would be heading out the next day. I asked her to go to Portland before she left Maine to find another old friend of mine —Glenn Shelton, who Jen had never met — and deliver a hug to him from me.
She did it. And it was amazing — for me, for Glenn and for Jen. And Jen decided that delivering hugs to friends and loved ones from friends and loved ones would be her mission as she travels the country. Today, she delivered her second hug to a stranger. Here is her description:
“Today I had the opportunity to give a hug to another stranger.
Lynn Stelmah asked me to hug her best friend from 6th grade. So I went to a home in New Hampshire, walked up the steps, and said, ‘You don’t know me, but I come to bring a hug to you from Lynn.’
Lynn had requested that I sing ‘She loves you, yeah yeah yeah,’ as they are both avid Beatles fans. So I did, and Deb laughed, and she knew I was sent by Lynn.
When two people, strangers or not, love the same person, you automatically feel close. The hugs are real. I have been smiling all day.”
This is the kind of thing that gives me hope.
— Tammye Nash
