I was very moved by a TED talk about human touch. The context was the doctor-patient relationship, and the potential for building trust through the laying of hands on another person's body.

 

The speaker, who received a standing ovation, described the ritual of examination and how it is being replaced by a vast array of technological wizardry. Doctors are more likely to order a CAT scan than to place their fingers on a patient's body. He came to this disturbing realization when he spoke with a patient who had changed doctors not based on the hospital atrium, or the cutting edge equipment, but because she wanted touch.

 

Especially in the wake of my neighbor's abrupt death, I wish I had done something far more important than clarify the Odhner Shuttle Schedule. I wish I had hugged him. 

 

I hear of couples for whom touch has fallen off the radar. This grieves me. And yet, I could throw my arms around my own husband a little more often. He would not mind.