“Maybe the things I’ve been trying to avoid are the things that I really need in life,’ said Lidstone, who drifted apart from his family. ‘I grew up never being hugged or kissed, or any close contact. ‘I had somebody ask me once, about my wife: ‘Did you really love her?’ And the question kind of shocked me for a second. I … I’ve never loved anybody in my life. And I shocked myself because I hadn’t realized that. And that’s why I was a hermit. Now I can see love being expressed that I never had before.'” An off-the-grid New Hampshire man’s days living as a hermit appear to be over. ‘River Dave’ doesn’t think he can go back to being a hermit. (Well, since there’s a vacancy, Internet Dave might give it a shot…)