In what seems like another lifetime I was a massage therapist. Every year I would donate my time and services to the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life, a 24 hour walking relay in which the participants are sponsored with all money going to the ACA. I offered five minute massages to the participants. My booth stayed busy well into the early morning hours of the next day. Needless to say by the end of the event I was physically exhausted but the rewards made it all worthwhile.
Nearly all the participants were being treated for cancer or were related to someone who was undergoing treatment. On more than one occasion as soon as I started to work the participant would shed tears. These were not tears of sorrow, they were tears of release. For these people it was the first touch they had experienced in a very long time.
I appreciate the caution given in this lesson. Things are indeed different today than they were when I was young. People have become more sensitive. I no longer offer any more contact than a handshake and even that is brief. I will engage in the occasional hug but only when the other person initiates it. As of today even holding hands during prayer has become an issue out of health reasons and it may be some time before this changes.
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