It’s not a real word. In fact, I don’t really know how one would even spell it. But in my house, growing up, it was the phrase my mom always used when she wanted to cuddle.

I can remember her early in the morning or late at night lying in bed. I would kiss her good morning or good night, and she would simply lift up her covers and just sweetly ask, “Come huggabugga?” As a child, I would jump at the chance for the warm embrace and the loving way she would scratch my head.

As I got older, those requests were met with more begrudging responses. “Mom! I am busy!” If she pleaded again and I felt the need to appease her, I would lie beside her for a brief moment and then scurry off to my room. I never paid attention to the loss she must have felt as our time snuggling became shorter and shorter, until I became a mother myself.

Tonight I sat with my daughter watching our nightly family show. I could smell her hair as she rested her head on my chest, and my heart was full, which made me miss my own mom. I was reminded that soon, just as I did, my kids will begin to choose friends over family, time alone over time with me, and those huggabug moments will fade.

Time does not discriminate. It robs every parent or caregiver of the baby they held, the toddler they chased, and the little kid they picked up, replacing them with a mini adult who no longer needs the attention they once craved.

When my mom became bedridden, our whole world turned upside down. She lost her ability to move and speak, but her life surges on within her eyes. Every week I still ask her if she wants to huggabug and snuggle her cheek with my face. More than once, I have watched my sister climb into my mother’s home care bed and lie beside her to reassure her that nothing in this earthly world can keep us from sharing our love.

So as much as I know my babies will not stay my babies and my cuddles may be a treat rather than a routine, I am comforted to know that a bond between a parent and child never fades. Huggabugging is a way of life through connection. It is sitting beside someone fully present, without a need to speak, in full contentment. In that moment, no matter how brief, there is no place you would rather be. It recharges the soul and reminds you that you are never alone. Even when the blanket cools, the hugs fade, and the time seems to evaporate, the love is always there whenever you need to crawl in and rest your weary heart.