A sociology prof told us about adopting babies from other countries. He and his wife found that the orphanages in eastern European countries were very understaffed. This meant that the babies didn’t get very much human touching. From what he knew about how we function he knew that babies that didn’t get touch during their infancy didn’t grow up to be well-adjusted. They opted to adopt from China where the babies get closer attention.

Being touched is a basic need. Not having someone to exchange touch with is one of the hard parts of being unattached.

Savoring those little finger-tip contacts is precious. When I think back on relationships I try to keep the memories of touches that were shared. No matter how the relationship developed there were always some nice touches.


Tom