In all my life up until then, no matter how close I was with another girl, I was never comfortable with the kind of physical contact I observed around me. I had no problem with this behavior with guys (which led to quite a few rumors I got a laugh from), but the same contact with a girl was something that made me quite uncomfortable.
Hubby asked me why I had this problem. I thought back all through my life, and could remember as a very young girl having no problem holding hands with another little girl who was a friend. I clearly remembered an incident that occurred in Kindergarden. The class I was in was located at a Middle School. The closest other kids to my age were 4 years older than I. I can remember walking down the hall surrounded by all the older kids, my best friend and I holding hands. I also remember a group of 4th graders, with their childish need of bullying smaller weaker children, ridiculing my friend and I. The teasing and hurtful things they said, which at that age I did not understand, burned through me and left a very lasting mark. That is the last time I could remember feeling comfortable with physical contact with another girl.
It wasn't until my mid 20's that I met a friend who was female, that I did not feel that level of discomfort. There were 4 of us who were friends, two gentlemen Eric & Dave, and Denise and I. Where you would see one of us, it was pretty much guaranteed the other three weren't far behind. This was during my Tech school for the Air Force. We were in an atmosphere that was so complete restrictive and controlling over our lives, that our friendship was literally the only thing we had control of. We were told when to eat, sleep, study, go to the bathroom, train, work and then if we were lucky, we were allowed a few hours of "free" time. Even during this time our activities and actions were restricted. Free time was often spent with us piled in a semi-exhausted heap in front of the TV or out under the trees. Finally I had a girl-friend whom I was not uncomfortable hugging, leaning on and draping over. Of course having Eric and Dave there hugging, leaning and draping on at the same time probably helped ease me into accepting that this was OK behavior.
Since then I've had two other friends with whom I am comfortable with this type of relationship. One I see occasionally, and the other I've only seen twice in the last 7 years. I treasure these friendships and hope to keep them for the rest of my life. Along the way, I hope I also find another few with whom I can develop such close friendships with.