Where do you stand on regularly hugging your friends? I grew up in a family where regular hugging was not the norm. A highly affectionate family we were not, which of course, stayed with me as I got older. It was not until I left home for my last two years of my residential high school (I ditched my hometown school after the 10th grade in favor of a “gifted” school) that I was, in a way, living with teens who grew up much differently from me. A number of the close circle of friends I formed .