In our everyday lives, we come across numerous people, some of whom we meet only once. Yet, amidst the sea of faces, there are those individuals who, despite the brief encounter, leave a lasting impression. These are the forever strangers, whose memory lingers in our thoughts long after they’ve disappeared from our lives.
At my high school graduation, there was this woman in her mid-30s who seemed to be staring at me throughout the entire ceremony. I thought I was imagining it, or that she was staring at someone else. But afterwards, in the darkened and crowded gym, I heard my name. I turned around and there she was.
She told me “You don’t know me, but I know you and I’ve been watching you for many years. I want you to know that we’re very proud of you and all of your accomplishments (she listed some of them specifically).” Then she walked off into the crowd and I’d never seen her again, without even telling me her name.
It was one of the strangest things that have ever happened to me. I have no idea who she could be or why she seemed to know so much about me.
I was out with my boy a few years ago shortly after Father’s Day. He was very happy about the #1 Dad shirt he had picked out for me and insisted I wear it. We crossed paths with a guy sans children wearing an identical #1 Dad shirt, we made eye contact and I expected we’d do the nod and be on our way. Nope. He stopped and gave me a serious glare and said “We shall kung fu fight!” doing the whole lips not matching his words thing and he got into a weird karate stance. I thought what the heck and played along. Guy took a fall pretty quickly. Acted pained as he got to his feet and bowed to me then he told my son “Feel great honor. Your father truly is number 1.”
My boy ate it up and it’s still a great memory for both of us. No idea who that guy was, but I would love to buy him a beer.
I fell down a few slippery steps and broke my tailbone on Saturday (the day before my birthday), but being the stubborn, young gal that I am, I decided to tough it out. Big Mistake!!
On Sunday, I woke up and literally couldn’t move, so to the ER I went. I check in and do the normal routine and I’m seen in a little less than 5 minutes. As I am waiting, an x-ray tech comes by and asks me for my information and puts an emphasis on my date of birth and says well at least you get to spend your birthday with the great staff here at the hospital. I tried to joke around, but the pain was so severe, that I couldn’t be my usual happy self. He says he will be back in 15 minutes to take me to get x-rays and just to sit tight (not as easy as it sounds), but while I’m waiting, he gave me a popsicle because it’s the closest thing to a birthday treat he could find.
Anyways, he calls my name and we walk to the x-ray room, but when we get to the door, he tells me to close my eyes, which I thought was weird, but whatever. He then guides me into the room and when I open my eyes, there are 5 different techs and a nurse and they yell surprise!!!!
They had found a few birthday balloons, a piece of cake from a co-worker’s baby shower and gave me a really nice pair of hospital socks because they all felt bad that I had to spend my birthday in the ER. I cried like a baby because I thought my birthday was a bust and I was in a lot of pain. They took time out of their busy schedules and did something so selfless for someone they didn’t even know.
So to the ER staff at my local hospital, thank you from the bottom of my heart, for making me feel special. I’ll never forget y’all!!!!!
I was in the grocery store baking section with my 3 children. We were debating the prices of brownie mix when my oldest asked if we could get something else. I don’t remember what it was that she wanted but I do remember it was out of our price range so I told her no, we didn’t have the money for it.
A few seconds pass and I continue my intense price comparisons when a little old lady walks up to me. She smiled at my children and told me they were beautiful. Then she told me that she had raised 3 boys and she knew how difficult times could be.
She smiled at me and said, “Let these girls get whatever they want.” I was a little confused when she reached her hand out to my oldest daughter and put something in her hand and walked away very quickly. As she scrambled away I was even more confused, why was she leaving so quickly? Just as she reached the end of the aisle she turned and said “Everyone can use a little help.”
Perplexed I turned to my daughter to see her holding a $100 bill. Her eyes were huge as she ran to get whatever it was she had previously asked for. I now knew that she left so quickly because she knew that I would have never accepted her kindness had I known what she gave my girls.
I cried all through the store allowing my children to pick out fruit snacks and cookies. I was thankful for every item in my basket that day. I’m sure the cashier was confused by my blubbering state as I paid for my groceries. I never got the chance to tell her thank you.
So, sweet little old lady let’s meet again.
A few years ago, I was sitting at a popular hang-out spot in the small city I live in. It’s this area by the river that has shops, restaurants and some grassy areas that are pretty nice.
Anyway, this day was not a good day for me so far. I went to a couple of job interviews that I didn’t feel too confident about and I was meeting up with this guy I had been seeing that I really liked knowing that I was probably going to be broken up with. As upset as I was about that, I totally give him kudos for doing it in person.
So I’m just sitting there sulking on the grassy area and I hear this kindly-toned “Excuse me?” behind me and I turn around to see this elderly woman and a little girl with her. So the elderly woman I assumed was the grandmother says “Go on, tell her.” And the little girl bashfully says the sweetest thing to me – “I think you look really beautiful.” I was at a complete loss for words but I did say thank you and that she made my day trying not to cry. It was seriously so hard not to. Then the grandmother and little girl walked away.
So little girl who made my day that day, I have never forgotten your kindness and I hope that we meet again someday.
I was leaving a friend’s wedding in downtown Atlanta. I parked in a pay lot, and since I was already running late for the wedding, I paid but didn’t bother waiting for my receipt. Apparently, in this lot, you had to show your receipt on the dashboard.
So, when I got back to my car, I found it booted. I was pissed. As I was walking back to the pay station to see who to call, a homeless man approached me. Initially, I waved him off, assuming he was panhandling, and while I usually try to be gracious, I was already too pissed off to deal with him. He insisted, though, and said that he saw my receipt on the ground. I froze, realizing that he actually had a real reason to talk to me. I stopped and let him continue, and he said he waited around to give it to me. With the receipt, he said, they would remove the boot for free since it proved I had paid, while without the receipt they’d charge me $75 since I couldn’t prove it.
So, I took my receipt and called the booting company. They said they’d be out within an hour and asked if I had my receipt. I said yes, and they said okay, then there wouldn’t be anything else required. I went back to the man and thanked him, and we started talking. He told me his life story — his name was Leonard, and he had been a concessionaire at the Braves stadium before a leg injury caused him to lose his job since he couldn’t walk up and down the stairs. He needed surgery to repair the leg and couldn’t afford it, he was kicked out of his apartment and ended up on the streets. He said he gathers what money he can to pay the $15/night it costs at the nearby shelter and saves all the rest of it for the eventual surgery. He wants to save up enough money before the surgery to take care of his expenses for six months after, knowing that he won’t be able to even panhandle during that time. I was amazed — he was living his life on the streets at the moment, yet he still had more of a life plan than I, a graduate student in Computing, had.
The crucial thing to mention is that he never ever asked me for money. Ever. He sat around and chatted with me, asked me questions about computers and my own life, and never once even alluded to any sort of difference in stature between us or my ability to help him. We were equals. No one in the world might have judged us that way, but we were.
When the booting company arrived, they removed my boot for free just as they had said they would. I said thank you to Leonard again and gave him far more money than it would have cost to have the boot removed without a receipt because, frankly, Leonard had earned it. He’d earned it by showing far more humanity and selflessness than anyone else I encounter on a daily basis, despite having a millionth as many reasons to be so gracious. He’d earned it by trying to do a good deed with no motive to earn anything in the first place.
I definitely still think of Leonard. I hope he was able to get his surgery and get his job back. Even more, though, I hope he was able to impact others’ lives the way he impacted mine. He gave me perspective, he humbled me, and he made me completely rethink massive portions of my prior political views.
I was at the Tin Roof Live music bar in Myrtle Beach trying to get over the fact that my 6-year relationship, Which had made it all the way to engagement, had come to a brutal end due to infidelity. My spirits were low and my confidence was in short supply but head banging on the dance floor To Michael Philip Parsons Cover up Mr. Brightside was definitely a distraction I needed. Then they played a slow song everyone turned to the person beside them and you turned around and met my eye looked me up-and-down and held out your hand. I really wasn’t sure what to do because the slowest dancing I’ve done is the slight side-to-side step you do at prom. I had a great time that night and looking back I regret not asking for some type of contact info because I didn’t think we’d go anywhere. But as the days we’re on I find myself Thinking back to that night and what could have been. So Shelby if by some miracle you’re on here, let’s meet again.
I came into Burger King to get a GrubHub order and two of you kept complimenting my crust pants and jacket. What you don’t know is that today was my first time working since my grandma died and I was having a really hard time. Truth be told I’ve been having a hard time since before she even passed. I’ve been so alone. I feel invisible a lot of the time. You guys saw me and made my day so much easier. Thank you. I know it seems small but it felt big and I appreciate it.
I was probably about 15 when this happened. My friend and I were wandering in the city, headed towards my sister’s work, and she wanted to show me where she used to live. Turned out, the area she used to live in wasn’t that good of a neighborhood. As we walked down a back street at 12 am on a Friday night we heard someone call out.
“Hey! Where are you going, sweetheart?”
“Yeah, come back here. I’ll show ya a good time!”
“Come on guys!”
Followed by footsteps. We see a group of 4 guys coming towards us from the direction we’re heading. My friend and I are completely freaking out, frantically looking for somewhere to run for help.
The guys get closer when, suddenly, I hear the sound of air breaks and see big, bright lights from behind us. The rig shuts off and the door opens. Out steps this huge truck driver. He had to be over 6’5″ and solidly built with broad shoulders. The guys were still walking towards us but they had slowed down. The trucker walks up to us and smiles, “Where are you heading, girls?”
Now, normally I wouldn’t have said anything but, my gut said it was ok, that we were safe. We explain that we were heading to the convenience store down the street and had taken a little detour. My sister worked there and we figured we could get a ride home.
He nods and says, “Mind if I walk with you?”
The guys following us had crossed the street, walked back the way they came, and were sitting in front of a bar a block down from us. We had to walk past them to get to the store so, we said yes.
As we walk he tells us how he has a couple of daughters about our age and if they were ever in our situation, he would hope someone would help them out. We walked past the guys. They didn’t say a word.
We reached the corner where the store was and he nodded in the direction of the store saying, “I think you got it from here.”
We thanked him over and over. We were both so emotional over what had just happened that we must have looked drained. He handed me $10 and told us to get something to eat from the store. “You’ll feel better in no time.”
He smiled, told us to have a good night, turned around and walked back to his truck. We ran through the parking lot into the store and told my sister what had happened. I don’t even remember the guy’s name.
So, big, bad, friendly truck driver… I hope we meet again someday. Thank you for coming to our rescue!!!
Me and my friend were dancing in a crowd of drunk people when I saw a couple of frat guys wearing awesome visors with the name of the event on them and I just had to have one!
A really tall guy was walking by and we shouted to him, “Hey! Do you know where those guys got their hats from?”
Without saying a word, the tall stranger proceeded to pull a hat off of one of their heads and handed it to me. The guy who lost his hat was so drunk he didn’t notice. Then the kind stranger left without a word.
Wonderful tall gentleman, you are my favorite thief, let’s meet again!
When My sister and I were around 6 or 7 years old (we’re twins), which would have made my brother about 2 or 3 years old, my mom drove us to our nearest Cirkle-K gas station/convenience store. She wanted to run in really fast without having to bring us in with her, so she left the car running. My memory is a bit foggy here, but somehow we accidentally put the car in reverse, by kicking it somehow? I’m not sure. But we were slowly gliding backwards into oncoming traffic. Then a man all of a sudden jumped in through the passenger side, where we were all sitting, and maneuvered his way to the driver’s side and stopped the car.
He was parked on the right side of us and happened to be there at the right time to stop the car and probably saved our lives. My mom never left the car running again after that.
It would be nice to meet him again now that I’m an adult just to say thanks for being a good person and acting so fast to save three young children.
One afternoon I decided to have a girl’s supper with my daughter and my little sister. We used to have so much fun together.
That particular evening, there was a man sitting a few tables over from us. I’m sad to say that I noticed him because he was alone and looked so depressed. I really thought he was going to burst into tears. I gave him a small smile and just concentrated on my girls. We were laughing and joking. My daughter sang a silly song. (She was 4 at the time and was such a ham.) After we finished our food, we were deciding on what ice cream we were going to get. The man says something like “My daughters’ are about her age. They’re twins. Is she 5?” I was surprised that he spoke to us and said “No, she’s 4. Twins?? Good on you, I can barely handle her alone. Ha ha.” I tried to be funny. He gets the sad look on his face again and said something about not having seen them in 2 years. I was taken aback and not sure what to say so I just came out with a sorry. I felt really bad. He then called the waitress over and I exchanged a sympathetic look with my sister. He leaves and we just finish up our dessert.
I signal the waitress for my bill. She came over to our table and told me that the man that was sitting near us paid my bill! I was surprised and a little disappointed that I didn’t think of anything special to say to him when I had the chance. It was a really nice thing to do, especially when he was so clearly missing his daughters.
I never forgot that. I hope he knew how grateful I was. I also hope that he eventually got to see his girls.
I was 18, a newlywed and flying alone for the first time to join my Army husband in Germany.
I was terrified. I had to leave from Boston MA and catch a connecting flight at Heathrow. I hadn’t been on a plane in a good 4 years and had never traveled alone.
Enter Amadeus, he was approximately the same age
as my father. I guess the fact that he had a daughter my age made it easy for him to sense my fear.
He approached me past the check-in point, where I’d had to say goodbye to my family and stood, alone, trying not to weep too loudly at leaving my precious little siblings, and pulled out a travel ashtray. ( Yes I’m dating myself ) We stood to the side smoking together and talking about our families.
He got the flight attendant to change my seat so we were together and spent the entire flight telling me about his family. He even bought me a screwdriver to calm my nerves.
At Heathrow, we had different flights and had to part ways but he took the time to get me on the right shuttle and to make sure I knew where I was going. Then I watched him run like mad because helping me was almost certainly going to make him miss his connecting flight.
That was 25 years ago and I’ll never forget you, Amadeus. Thank you for helping a scared, lonely girl not feel so alone.
My car needed gas, which is why I was at the gas station. I was heading inside to pay, and as I opened the door I hear “Wait for me please! I have trouble with these heavy doors” to which j reply “No problem!” I finish paying, and I am waiting for her to finish as well so she would not have to worry about the door. As she was finished paying, she said “Thank you so much.” She then asked me if I was a student, and I said yes, in the 11th grade. She then proceeded to tell me something she said she told all the students she sees. She told me that she was in school 76 years ago and that it was a completely different time. She lived on a farm, and they had no phones. She said that she was a reading tutor for kids for 10 years, and the things they taught these kids in grade 3, she was taught in grade 5. She said that they nowadays they teach kids more advanced things, and more of it. She then shook my hand and congratulated me for learning and working through school. She told me that the most important thing you can do is love yourself, and own up and admit that you made mistakes, as she was never taught that when she was growing up. We exchanged thanks and parted ways. That gave me something to think about on the drive home.
Once when I was on the train a middle-aged woman was walking down the aisle, we made eye contact for a brief moment. She stopped and kept looking at me, even after I had broken eye contact. She eventually took the seat right across from me and kept staring at me. It wasn’t a serial killer creepy, or aggressive stare, it was sort of an inquisitive stare. Still weirded me out though because I had never met her in my life, so I tried my best to just put on a smile and to not make eye contact with her.
Eventually, she let out a whimper, then she started breathing strangely, as she was holding back tears, then she eventually started to cry. It was just me and her in that train car, as it wasn’t during peak hours, the weather had been bad all day, and most people were already done school, in fact, that day I had just written my last test.
I was totally taken aback by her crying, but I asked her if she were okay. She just kept stammering, so then I asked her if I should press that “signal emergency button”. She eventually told me “no”, and after a few moments, she told me that I looked like her son. I didn’t really know what to say, so I didn’t respond, and then she told me that her son had killed himself the week before.
Spent a week in LA in February. I said good morning in my limited broken Spanish to the bus/trolley driver from the hotel to and from Universal Studios, and he lit up like a Christmas tree. We ended up talking nonstop every time I was on the bus, which was often. I lowkey fell in love with him over the weekend. Thanks for teaching me more Spanish, Glenn, and about your culture.
This happened two years ago, on a very hard day for me.
I was coming back home from a very bad day (which I will not explain why, this is supposed to be a happy story) and halfway, I sat on a bench. The next thing I see is a boy coming towards me and saying “Hey, what’s wrong?”. I just smiled and replied “Nothing.” Next thing that happened just filled my heart with warmth. He hugged me, and that really made my day.
So, the boy who hugged me and made that day for me, I hope we meet again in our lifetime.
I once worked at a thrift store and two women came in at the same time. The first was a Young Woman, and the second was an Older Woman. I was alone and I enjoyed striking up a conversation with patrons of the store, so as they came in, I say hello and the two women go separate ways, so I can assume they don’t know each other.
When I spoke to the first woman, she revealed to me that she was looking for a wedding dress and that she had been in before and wanted to try on the dress in our display, which was a 300-dollar dress. I was skeptical, but I got it out of the dress display and unlocked the dressing room. The woman, from the dressing room, proclaimed it fit, and how excited she was!
Now as this woman was trying it on, the Older Woman came up to me and I also tried to make small talk. The lady cut me off and asked me how much the dress was. I replied 300 dollars and the old lady replied, “Put her dress on my card.” I was shocked, I actually thought she wanted to get herself the dress and I was about to protest, but the Older Lady tells me, “She looks so beautiful in that dress, tell her I said to pay it forward.” She then paid for her items, (roughly 20 bucks) and the designer wedding dress we were selling. As I was getting the receipt, the Older Woman noticed the Younger Lady getting out of the dressing room and she took her items and left the store in a hurry and took off in her car in a hurry.
When the young woman got to the counter with the dress. I pretended to run her dress up and gave her a disappointed face (I’m a good actor), I told her, “I’m sorry, but we can’t sell this dress to you.” The lady was beyond fuming, she started to cry and begged me to run up the dress, she promised me she could afford it and that she had all the cash on hand, waving her money. She told me it was the most perfect fit and I had to sell it to her. At this point, I clarified, “I can’t sell it to you because the woman who just took it off bought it for you.” The woman was shocked, she started crying asking me to clarify what I just said.
“The woman said you looked amazing in that dress and she wants you to have the perfect wedding, and to pay it forward to someone in need.” I gave her the dress, and she tried to give me money anyway, I refused it, although she did donate 20 dollars to our charity, (couldn’t stop that) and silently walked out of the store, a shocked dazed look on her face.
I know microwave popcorn is bad for you and I always use a hot air popper but my husband likes the extra buttery microwave kind. I’m tired of always telling him what we shouldn’t eat so I just let this one slip by.
So we’re doing our monthly shopping trip and walking by the popcorn. I say we still have a big box at home. Husband says but is it buttery? Then a random stranger says do you know microwave popcorn has been proven to cause cancer? We all talk about it for a minute and it felt awkward so I kind of go back to shopping and the stranger finishes talking to my husband and moves on.
For the rest of the shopping trip, I was hoping to run into him again to at least give him a thumbs up. I think it was really nice of him to care enough about a stranger’s health to tell them what he knew. My husband still bought the popcorn but hopefully, he’ll do some research about it now and join me with the air popper.
For a few years, our family has been dealing with my grandmother’s declining mental health, to the point where I had to take over her accounts. This eased things for months, but I was still new to taking care of a family member. I thought I had things in control, I received a call saying my grandmother was found wandering around late at night in November, wearing only her pajamas and slippers, trying to pay her bills (fortunately, it doesn’t snow here during winter). Due to some old documents on file, I was not listed as the caregiver, but fortunately this lead to my grandmother being placed into a nursing home that weekend, where she is still well taken care of to this day.
So, to whoever picked up my grandmother, I say thank you! You have saved my grandmother’s life that night.
If someone who knows me reads this story it’s gonna be so obvious it’s me. Anyway. I was working at a museum in Argentina one time, a few years ago. My coworkers didn’t really speak English, and I love being the only one who does because that means I get to talk to tourists and it makes me feel like I’m traveling. This woman comes in, with a Kånken (Swedish backpack, mainstream now but it wasn’t at the time in this place. I knew it’s also very common in Denmark). I’m a big fan of Scandinavia and have been for years, and I have the same bag. During this time my boyfriend and I had just decided to take a trip to Denmark to work for a year, we were sending out the paperwork and everything. So, this grey-haired, blue-eyed lady with the Swedish backpack wants some info about the museum. My coworker waves me over to help her. We start talking and I ask her where she’s from, she says “Copenhagen, Denmark”. I tell her “So cool! My bf and I will be there in 6 months to find a job and an apartment.” Not 5 minutes into the conversation and she’s already offering her place for free during our first month there so we can settle in and find a job. She gives me her name so I can add her on Facebook. By the way, she could be my grandma, she’s 70 years old. Everything feels so right, she’s so easy to talk to! So we chat later that night and she offers to meet up with my boyfriend so we can all know each other a little better. Everything was perfect, we met a few more times and then she left the country. We spoke for months, and when we finally arrived in Copenhagen, she picked us up and helped us with all the Danish things, paperwork, the lease, finding jobs, everything. She even took us to her summer house during the Easter holiday, which was just a dream come true for me. So I always say she came straight from heaven to help me. Redditors, hope you find people like this in your life.
I work for a large financial firm, and one day we had an incident with an anonymous caller who was asking a number of questions about me and my schedule, when I leave the office, etc. In all honesty, it was probably innocuous – a client who didn’t realize how suspicious the conversation sounded, most likely – but my company still decided that our branch should have a security guard present throughout the following week, who would walk me to my car after work since I live in an area where it gets dark very early. The guard was a young guy, probably about my age; he introduced himself on the first day, but it was that sort of situation where I asked him to repeat his name twice and then felt too embarrassed to ask again, so just pretended like I got it.
Each evening, we’d have really nice conversations as he walked me to my car – about our work stories, his studies, sour candy, how he wants to improve his Amharic so he can visit his relatives in Ethiopia, etc. I looked forward to getting to chat with him during those brief walks; it was definitely the sort of vibe where we could hang out and be friends outside of work, which is great for me because I recently moved here and this city is infamous for being a hard place to make new friends, especially for me now as a young woman working in an office of mostly older men.
But today, Friday, was the last day that he was contracted to provide security for me. I thought, well, if he asks for my contact information I’ll give it to him and we can grab a happy hour drink sometime! But if not then he probably wasn’t feeling the vibe that I was, and that’s okay too. We got to my car and he didn’t ask, so I just thanked him with a hug, wished him happy holidays, and left. Of course, I immediately realized that 1) if he had asked for my info it could seem like he was hitting on me which would have looked very unprofessional, and 2) his company policy probably prohibits asking clients for their personal info like that. Duh! If I wanted to be friends, why didn’t I just offer?! But now I don’t even know the guy’s name or the security company he works for, and even if I did know the latter I can’t exactly email his bosses to say “Hey, who’s that guy you sent to my office for a week? Well anyway, I’d like to be friends with him. Can you pass him my Facebook deets in case he feels the same? Tell him no pressure, though.”
So, the security guard who walked me to my car this past week, thanks for keeping me safe and if the opportunity ever arises, let’s meet again (but please repeat your name)!
I will never forget it. I was a poor college student buying a suit for my final presentation required for my program, I could only afford to buy pants and a suit jacket … after being helped by the salesperson and getting the right fit suit, the person at check out tried to upsell me for a dress shirt and I said no no I’m good – I have some dress shirt I can still use and that I only saved up for this suit. Clearly, as I am purchasing a $99 suit pair.
He then asked me what I am shopping this suit for. I told my story … long story short. He gave me a nice white dress shirt for $1. I was so happy and emotionally touched. I almost cried as I got turned down by my family asking for help initially for money to buy this suit pair. It was a $99 suit and the dress shirt was close to 60 some bucks. I refused initially, but he insisted. He said that going to school is the best that I can do for myself and think of it as a graduation gift from a random person. He asked me to do well. This was in 2010. I completed my program and aced my capstone. Won’t forget about it.
I was 13 or 14 at the time, the Toronto Raptors group had formed a couple of years before and I liked them, solely because I thought the mascot was awesome.
One time in Winter, I was out Christmas shopping with my Mom. I was sitting in the car while she picked up some lottery tickets and my Dad’s newspapers. While I’m waiting in the van, a woman and a kid who looked to be about 8 or so walked by, both dressed in a spring jacket. It was really cold, probably -25c or so, with about 2 feet of snow on the ground.
I had the window cracked because I liked the cold, but from within the car, I heard the kid ask his Mom “Mom, can we get me a winter coat?”. She said something about them not being able to afford it, but maybe Santa would.
That got me thinking… I jumped out of the car and chased them down and told them to stop. The mother was like “What do you want?”, I caught up, pulled my coat off and gave it to the kid. The mother started crying and yelled thank you after me after I run back to the van in the bitter cold.
Man, my Mom was PISSED that I gave away that coat (It was very expensive) and tried to claim that they scammed me, but she didn’t how that kid’s face lit up when I took my coat off.
I was walking home after a sh*tty day and it started pouring on me. So, naturally, I broke down and cried in the street. A car pulled over near me and a little girl ran out, gave me her MacDonalds toy, hugged me, and told me it would be ok, then went back to her (I think) older sister in the car. She gives me hope for humanity.
As a child on Halloween, I was out trick or treating. I was going door to door getting loads of candy and I walk up to this one house and ring the doorbell. I stood there for a little while and nobody came. Naturally, I figured that they had run out of candy or that there was no one home. As I turn to leave I hear a frail voice say, “Wait don’t leave.” I turn around to see an elderly woman with a bowl full of candy who apparently had trouble getting around which was why it had taken her so long. Her voice sounded kind of sad, almost as if I was the only child to who she had given candy all night.
I was in the hospital. I have anxiety problems and this was the first time they had gotten so bad. It felt like my heart was torn and bleeding. I found out later these were just anxiety-caused chest pains, but I had never felt anything like it before, and I’d never been in an emergency before so I was pretty freaked out.
An old woman was sitting next to me. At one point she put her hand on my shoulder, and in an Eastern European accent said.
“You’re an artist. I can see it in your eyes.”
I am an artist. I have no idea how she knew. I guess I probably just look like the type, she wasn’t psychic or anything. But she was so old and so comforting. It was like she was saying “I’ve seen your shape before, in another life. Everything’s going to be ok.”
I was still nervous, but not quite as much. I’ll never forget her.