It’s easy to forget how much a simple hug can help. Help shift your perspective. Help change the way your day is going. Help make everything feel a little lighter. 

I was in a foul mood a few weeks ago as I snatched my lab request form — its medical jargon clearly indicating that long gone are the days where my annual physical is a breeze — from my doctor’s hand. 

Something about a history of high cholesterol and some other term I didn’t understand — or really care about at that moment, to be honest. I just wanted to get out of there.  

But I knew enough and had enough people in my life who ignored simple signs or who had terrifying medical incidents over the past year, to walk down to the lab check-in instead of out the door to the nearby bundt cake store where I could emotionally eat my crabby pants away.   

I grunted as I put my form in the tray. Then I sat down to wait.  

It’s hard to brood when you’re sitting in the waiting room next to the people going through the door marked “Radiology.” But I’m stubborn so I gave it my best attempt anyway.  

A few minutes later, a short woman with cute glasses and a spiky short haircut called my name. I noticed as we walked down the short and sterile hallway that she was shorter than me, which made me feel better because I shrunk a half inch over the past year and am quickly reaching the height where I have to hem a full 6 inches off my pants so they fit correctly. One of the few lovely (sarcastic) tidbits I learned during my physical exam.  

“Hi, sweetie! My name is Meegan and I’ll be drawing your blood today.” 

I internally rolled my eyes. “Of course, your name is Meegan,” I thought. Man, I sure was judgy today.  

Then Meegan looked at me and with a few words reminded me the power of simply seeing someone.  

“You look like you’ve had a day. You also have beautifully kind eyes and strike me as someone who is a protector. That’s hard. Maybe you need a hug?” 

Writing those words, I realize one could interpret them as condescending.  

They were anything but. Meegan oozed empathy and a wisdom that touched my soul and struck a nerve.     

I was immediately thrown back to August when I saw one of our Minnesota State Patrol troopers live on CNN embracing a woman he didn’t know in the moments following the Annunciation School shooting in Minneapolis. I’ll never forget that image. 

“Wow, Meegan. You’re good. I work in public safety and it is hard. I’m not a cop or anything  like that, but the last few weeks have been a lot. I’ll take a hug before you jam that needle into my arm — just as long as you promise to do a good job. I have a history of needing to be stuck more than once and it’s not very fun.” 

Meegan gave me a warm hug and only had to stick me once. 

We spent the next few minutes talking about how much she respected law enforcement and tries to thank the men and women in uniform when she sees them or when they end up in her chair having blood drawn. She went on to tell me a hilarious story about a sassy professor she had in college.  

“She was like you. Someone who hides behind her spunk and humor but who needs someone to see her and be kind. I think we all need that more than we realize. I like you! Take care of yourself and those troopers.” 

Meegan turned my mood around. I left the doctor’s office smiling and contemplative. I thought about that trooper who hugged that woman on one of her darkest days — the hug saving them both — because it was one of his darkest days too. I know this because he messaged me on LinkedIn after he saw my post and thanked me for my kindness, telling me that he needed that embrace as much as she did.  

In that moment, a tired trooper and a terrified woman, neither of whom knew the other’s name, reminded us what a safer Minnesota is actually built on: human connection. 

I’m sharing the photo and the Facebook post below because we all need the kindness of strangers from time to time and because small moments of empathy often do more to build safety and trust than just about anything else we do.