The “Hug Lady” Hugged Half a Million Soldiers At The Airport For 12 Years

A warm, sincere hug can convey messages that words alone can’t express. People hug out of love, joy, gratitude, compassion, relief, and fear.

Charlotte Charles, a character from the 2007 American comedy-drama TV series Pushing Daisies, said that a proper hug is like an “emotional Heimlich.” “Someone puts their arms around you and they give you a squeeze and all your fear and anxiety come shooting out of your mouth in a big wet wad and you can breathe again.”

For soldiers who always risk their lives fighting for their country, a hug could mean all those emotions combined. To receive a warm hug after months or years of living in uncertainty is probably like an emotional Heimlich—a gesture that reminds them that they’re home now and they’re safe. The war has, at least, temporarily ceased. And, to those about to be deployed, it could signify love and support.

Elizabeth Laird is a technically a stranger to all the soldiers who come and go at Ford Hood, an airbase in Gatesville, Texas.

But this 83-year-old woman made it her mission to hug each and every soldier who are about to be deployed for service.

And when they return home, she’ll still be there, waiting with her arms wide to welcome them home. The soldiers tagged her as the “Hug Lady”.

She had been travelling untiringly to the airbase since soldiers were deployed to Iraq in 2003. For 12 years, she has probably hugged more than half a million military men and women.

Until one day, they realized the kind and loving “Hug Lady” wasn’t at her usual post.

None of them knew that she had been fighting a battle of her own for the past 11 years. Elizabeth Laird— theHug Lady, has breast cancer.

When the soldiers found out that she was recently admitted to Metroplex Hospital in Killeen, they began visiting her. In an effort to return Laird’s gesture of love, loyalty, and support, they give her a warm hug as she lies in the hospital bed.

“It would be my honor to give her a hug in her time of need. I made it my business to get down here and show her a little love because she’s shown me plenty of love,” Staff Sargent Jarvez Wilkes told NBC News.

“The hug lady was very inspirational in my first deployment to Afghanistan; she touched my heart,” says retired Army Capt. Caren Adkins.“One American impacting so many lives.”

Richard Dewees, her son, created a GOFundMe account, hoping to raise $10,000 to cover for his mom’s medical expenses. But, as of Tuesday, they already received more than $80,000.

“The outpouring of people, the comments coming in, it’s amazing. She’s touched this many people in that way with just a simple hug,” Dewees said.

Elizabeth told visiting soldier Edmond Clark,“Got flights coming up. Got to get out and hug you.”

“They just want to thank her, for encouraging them, for giving them something to look for…they knew when they went over there, when they came back, someone would be waiting,” Dewees told The Washington Post. “A lot of them say they don’t have families, but they have her.”

Elizabeth’s cancer has metastasized. According to WFAA, she will no longer undergo chemotherapy or radiation treatments. She, however, is hopeful she’ll get back to her post at Fort Hood in a few days.

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Sometimes, we don’t fully comprehend the importance of what a sincere and warm hug does to someone who truly needs it. Maybe it’s about time we know. When was the last time you gave someone a real hug?

H/T: Huffington Post, The Washington Post, Viral Thread, , Human Kind

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