Claire in her summer dress. I'm missing Rose and I ask Annie and David's six older daughter if I can hug her. She not only hugs me, she adopts me. She helps me pick out a t-shirt for Rose, we fill water balloons in the bathroom, we negotiate over taking a golf cart ride 10 feet, we snuggle even in the 90 degrees and humid weather.

David V.S., every time we saw each other. All the way real, true blue, love you forever, and wow is it good to see you and easy to be with you.

Jed H. especially in Clothier tower doing round singing as the moon came up.

Jed S. I had only one low moment the entire trip. Pretty remarkable for being without my family and managing air travel. It felt like a sugar crash not a real problem, but I came down the hall and into Jed's arms. Jed was a casual friend in college and we hung around in Boston for a few years after. All my friends from Swarthmore are people who hold me like that.

Jim. We don't call. We don't write. But I knew I absolutely knew I could walk up to him and get the type of hug that warms you for days, and we did that every time we saw each other.

Laura C.. You've read about Laura. We thought she was going to die of cancer 8 months ago. But now she's on an experimental treatment that seems to be working. It sucks—a week of chemo, a week of side-effects, a good week—but she's alive, and on this week-end, at least, full of energy. I really really enjoyed discussing life and death with her.

Ruth A., it didn't have to be a big hello. I could just walk up to her and hug her because I wanted to.

Tom whom I've never met before. On the way home, I was chatting with an alum from a different class. He said it's better to leave your partner at home. He saw a lot of awkward, left out standing around from the partners who came. I used Tom as the counter-example. The first intro was the first hug, and there were dozens after that. He felt part of our Swarthmore family, and he made me feel part of the family he has made with my dear friend.

And of course Annie, Clayton, Cynthia, David H., Elliot, Kir, Laura M., Mina, Rishi, Ruth R., Hope, and many more.

Not all of them expected. All of them joyous and sustaining.