Before Free Mom Hugs became a global movement, it was just one mom in Oklahoma, holding a secret she didn’t know how to carry. In this first half of a two-part conversation, Sara Cunningham—founder, author, and affirming mother—opens the door to her earliest struggle: the years she resisted her son’s truth, clinging to a faith that taught her love had limits.

Together, Sara and Jeff look back on the collision between belief and belonging—the nights of prayer, the silence that stretched for years, and the moment a mother realized that “doing the right thing” had cost her time she could never get back.

This is the part of the story where fear delays love. Where theology feels like armor but becomes a cage. Where a mother’s tears mark the beginning of her unlearning.

Part 2, The Redemption, will reveal what happened next—how heartbreak became hope, and how one handmade button sparked a movement that now spans the globe. But first, Part 1 takes us to the moment before the hug, when love was still finding its way out of the closet.