I am Catholic as well.
It is not impossible to go to a Catholic church if you are uncomfortable with the sign of peace. You have a couple of options. 1. go to a traditional latin mass 2. instead of handshaking, smile, nod and say peace be with you, there is no rule you must engage in a handshake. Please do not discourage people from attending mass.
Shame on the parishioners in her former church. I wonder if before she left she discussed her feelings with the parish priest. We are such a disposable society, rather than address a problem in our own community (here a parish) we just move on to the next. Her old priest might have liked to know the sentiments of his parishioners, especially those who themselves were most likely not tithing.
Yes, that is the original reason I quit going to the Vatican II Mass (had only been to it a handful of times, averaging once/decade). Since then, I discovered many others reasons to prefer the Tridentine Mass (see profile page and other trad sources).