Starfish Hugs

When Jeff was 5 or 6, I was dating a man named Thom. Thom had several aquariums in his apartment and Jeff was completely fascinated by them, especially the saltwater tanks. He would stand and watch them swim around for what seemed like hours. Thom and I would watch a movie or a football game, but Jeff was more interested in 'talking' to the fish.

One night, after a long shift of watching Thom's two starfish slowly climb up the side of the aquarium just to release their grip and float to the bottom in a heap, Jeff comes up to Thom and says, "Hold your hand like this."

Once Thom did that, Jeff did the same thing, bringing their hands together until the palms were touching.

Then Jeff bent his fingers until he was holding Thom's hand; Thom did the same.

Then Jeff said, "I think this is how starfish would hug." We've been giving starfish hugs ever since.