ONLINE HUGS SOOTHE LONELY HEARTS

An ex-Baptist minister with a shock of white hair, Caleb Shikles was possessed with a relentless optimism. He passed on last March, just a week shy of his 95th birthday, but not before leaving an online legacy called HugNation, a weekly, worldwide, Internet hug.

“Think of it as a sort of prayer – a communal expression of compassion,” says the HugNation website. “It is a weekly reminder that we are connected and we all far more similar than we are different. Everyone can use a hug.”

Hug Nation was the brainchild of Shikles’ grandson, John Styn, an internet entrepreneur with shocking pink hair. It combines internet technology with people’s need to be together.

In 2001, Styn was living in an experimental “webcam house” in San Diego where dozens of cameras recorded occupants’ every move.

“Thanksgiving Day we invited a bunch of people who didn’t have anyone to hang out with into this chat room; and if you had a webcam, turn it on yourself,” says John. “As people were going around the table sharing what they were thankful for, it felt like we were together. It felt like we were sharing. People were crying.”

That experience became the catalyst for HugNation. Not long after that virtual grace, Shikles’ wife died and Styn started to spend more time with his grandfather. He realized that Shikles still had an immense amount of love and optimism to offer a troubled and lonely world and HugNation was born. The virtual hug is at www.hugnation.com every Tuesday at 1 pm Pacific time.

“We never hugged in my family until we became grown,” Shikles had said. “A hug — you feel the heart beat. You feel this person is your brother, your sister as you grab them.”

Together, grandfather and grandson appeared on HugNation each week, two contrasting colors, pink-haired John and white-haired Caleb, side by side in front of a webcam, encouraging viewers to envision hugging their loved ones, friends, neighbors, even strangers on the street.

At the end of each brief session, grandfather and grandson would embrace on camera and thank each other.

Although Shikles has passed on, his grandson continues his legacy.

“Hug Nation gives me a chance to stop for a minute and look beyond my own troubles,” says Roseanne from Puerto Rico, who has a five-year-old child and is going through a divorce. “I think about those who are worse off than me. I can connect and be positive.”

Styn recalls it this way: “I was like, wow, Grandpa, you always help me see the glass as half-full. And he just leaned back and he says, ‘It’s a beautiful glass.’”

Compiled by Sally Kimbel