Strangers who's lives have touched yours, do you wonder where they are now?

[BloodyAdultDC]

I witnessed a proposal late on Valentine's Day a few years back, in Paternoster Square near St Paul's - hardly anyone around, I often think of them and how their lives have panned out. I was a mumsnet wedding witness a few years back, never heard from the bride or groom since, wonder how telling their family went. Also the midwife who supported me overnight when I finally sussed bf, I wonder if she really knew what an impact she had on us both. Many many others too.

Does anyone ever think about those kinds sliding door moments, and wonder how they're doing now?

I was on a flight Malaga to Bristol in July 2012, just broken up with my Spanish boyfriend and I had nowhere else to go in Spain.
I sat next to an old couple on the plane, sobbing my heart out the whole flight, they never asked why…the woman kept handing me tissues and the man bought me whisky. Wouldn’t have got through it without their presence

I was on the ward after the birth of my dd 20 years ago and would talk to the lady in the next bed. She was really lovely and I knew her face but just couldn’t place her. She’d had a little boy after years of IVF and he was in SCBU. It was only after I came home that I realised I’d seen her in the papers. Her daughter who was about 9 or 10 was murdered a few years previously in a very high profile case. For years I would often wonder what happened to her and her baby. More recently I read that the little boy died in hospital when he was a few weeks old and she didn’t ever have any more children. It’s such a cruel world. 😢

The very kind lady who coaxed me and my 7 week old dd out of a toilet after we had hid there for for hours after my ex attacked us both

She was a real angel and I could tell she had been through something very similar

What an uplifting/ sad/ life-affirming thread.

Mine was only a few years ago. I came across a woman crying, walking in her bare feet, heels in hand, after midnight a Thursday one January. It was freezing. I stopped the car & offered a lift. It was near my house in a residential area & she lived relatively nearby.

She had argued with friends & stormed out of their taxi home (from a late Xmas night out- she was a nurse & this is quite common when everyone on shift can make it). She had been overly dramatic about some silly issue. The real issue was that she was dreading going home- he was controlling & she was in mental health crisis, but couldn't see a way out for her & the kids. She'd lost her phone & was afraid that he'd be angry. We talked a long time. Eventually she saw the lights go on & his shadow - as if looking for her- & she scuttled off.

I managed to write some numbers on a piece of paper for her- Women's Aid/ a local helpline- but she said he'd find it & looked worried.

I wanted to put a note through the door over the next, few days, but worried she'd need to explain herself to him. I posted on here & was told to leave well alone/ disbelieved as posters couldnt believe that as a lone woman I would stop. I had a feeling when I saw her I was in no danger.

I often think of her. I've never seen her locally again. I hope she got out, he had a big family who seemed to also control her & she wasn't close to her own mum. I like to think we would have been friends.

F

I sell handmade cufflinks online and a few years ago at a very stressful time with a toddler, no childcare and a rapidly growing business I accidentally posted two large orders to the same address in the US, the lady was so lovely, she checked the contents in the order, re-packaged it for me and posted it to the correct address and wouldn't take a penny for it, just told me to pay it forward. I will never forget that kind gesture, it really helped me out of a difficult situation!

Several years ago I caught a late train out of London to the town I was living in in the Midlands. Planned engineering works meant that the train terminated at the station before mine and there was a replacement bus the rest of the way.

One of the few other passengers was a young Chinese woman. She didn't understand what was going on, and she didn't have much English, but I managed to explain to her and we sat together on the bus and communicated as best we could. She was probably about 20 and had been in the UK a matter of weeks. She said she was here to learn English. She was friendly but nervous.

When we got to our destination it was well after midnight. She had said she was staying with relatives who ran a (well-known and popular) restaurant in the town centre. I knew where it was and I had my car at the station so I drove her there. Never saw her again.

A year or so later, the restaurant was exposed in the local press as being a front for a brothel, with the suggestion that the owners were involved in people trafficking. I think of that young woman often and wonder if I should have picked up some kind of clue. Wherever she is, I hope she's OK.

Exactly! That's the annoying bit. Just say!!!

I often think of Luke. We met travelling in a small, off the beaten track island in Indonesia. By some strange fate we discovered that we'd both been in Greece at the same time 5 years previously- I was having a holiday romance with his mate! He was so lovely, but only there for one more night. We stayed up most of the night talking.

This was before social media & email in its infancy- 1999, so we lost touch. I heard through the traveller grapevine he & his friend got a huge fright as they were thrown in a Thai jail for a week over mistaken identity. They had to go home 3 months before planned.

I hope he had a brilliant life. He had a cracking smile.

I often wonder what became of my old uni mate, Sam. She was an absolute one off, and danced entirely to her own beat. Escapades included running off to rural Spain with an artisan shoemaker and having to shower outdoors, and living in a flat with Glasgow's arterial motorway literally passing her bedroom window. I saw the Muppet Christmas Carol with her at the cinema. Her flatmates were all mental too. One of them was a veterinary student from Watford who stole ketamine from horses.

Sam, I hope you still have that beautiful curly hair. Don't you dare change.

This is a lovely thread. How amazing would it be if two people who had wondered about eachother connected. I'm a NICU nurse and I often think about some of my old patients and wish I could see them grown up now.

In a flip, I think im probably in the situation where someone wonders if im ok and I think about them too. I flew home from a long haul holiday in an emergency because my dad was dying. Shortly before getting on the flight we found out he had passed away. The air hostesses where lovely and did all they could to support us. A lovely couple seated next to me and DD (DH was near but not next to because the flight was full) kept checking on me and offered to hold baby DD if needed. They hugged me as we got off the plane and it just made me feel calm that total strangers cared about us. So if you ever read this, thank you. I hope you got the best cuddles from your grandchildren than you told me about when you got home

Love this thread! About 15 years ago I helped a heavily pregnant lady and her panicked husband as she was having contractions, there was an ambulance strike so I was thinking that I may have to assist with the birth, luckily a paramedic turned up on a bike at the last minute. I like to think they named their child after me.

In 1998 I was in hospital after giving birth to DD2 and I was put on a separate ward with new mums with higher needs as my baby had been born in distress and had a low apgar score. The woman in the next bed had twin boys in NICU but they were doing well. Turns out she also had 18 month old twin boys at home. So she had four boys under 2. Her dh brought them in to see her and they were bouncing around the room. She said how her boys were a real handful and how she had got pregnant accidentally, and how she worried how they would manage with the second pair of twins. They had no family support and her dh worked long hours.
I used to think about her often, her boys will all be in their 20s now, I hope they are fine lads she is proud of.

We had one where we actually saw them again a year later.

I rushed to a&e at 36 weeks pregnant with severe preeclampsia. The receptionist got me seen immediately and the midwives said if I’d waited any longer it would have been devastating. The receptionist really saved both me and baby with their quick help. They did more than they should have done because they had to argue with the maternity ward to accept me as the maternity ward didn’t want to take me in. She argued with them to take me. I was induced and gave birth a day later.

A year later we took one year old dd to hospital with a burn. Dh went to the reception and it was the same receptionist from the previous year. She immediately again took us straight through to see the doctors due to the burn severity. Dh however explained to her that she won’t remember but the previous year she had saved the baby’s life. She actually cried when he told her. It was a lovely moment.

What a really lovely thread ❤️

A couple more from me -

The lovely Macmillan lady who made me the best brew ever after breaking down in the hospital after dh went for surgery. Val, I'll never, ever forget that kindness.

Group of boys milling about at the ticket machine in our big city station, one on the phone to his mum upset (but styling it out in front of his mates) that he didn't have enough cash for his fare home. I paid for my ticket then bought one for his destination and handed it to him. Hope he paid it forward.

Evelyn, the most empowering legal person I came across in nearly 5 years of dealing with my divorce. Saved me literally thousands by telling me what forms to fill out, where to send them etc.

The New York Times (I think) has a segment on missed connections - wouldn't it be lovely if any of these brief encounters had an update?

when I had DD I had complications and ended up in theatre. after an hour (I'd just had a spinal block) they said that they were going to need to give me a general anaesthetic and that they needed me to sign a further consent form acknowledging that I might end up with a hysterectomy. i asked if I could see my DH (I was 26, first time mum and this was all out of the blue) and several folk were just kind of talking over me and ignoring me when the anaesthetist intervened and said i'd asked for my husband and someone should go get him. REALLY appreciated it - at the time and with hindsight - that someone listened to me and advocated for me.

and about 7 years ago my mum was v ill in hospital. i had a really long day - out at 6.15am for work, drove 90 miles from work to visit my mum and then stopped at the supermarket to pick up a few things on my way home. one of the things i picked up was birthday candles and the checkout operator commented on them and asked whose birthday it was. when i said it was mine she said i couldn't possibly pay for my own birthday candles and gave them to me for free. i cried in the car for 5 mins before i could drive home - i'm sure she didn't realise quite the impact it had but in that moment that tiny kindness was overwhelming.

It quite a stranger. 35 years ago I was seeing a boy and the group we hung out with down the pub included a man in his 50s and his long term Gf in her 20s. They seemed well suited, lived together and one day she old me he didn't want anymore children and that was fine because she didn't want any.

Years later I split from my BF and that night I went round hers crying and during a heart to heart she told me she changed her mind and she wanted children. I never saw her again.

Until on day on a different town I walked into a Drs waiting room and she was there with a baby. I got called in for my appt and when I left she was gone. Was the baby hers? Was it his? What had happened? This was way before social media and I have tried to look for her but she has one of the most common names and she could even be married with a different name now. I often wonder how her life turned out.

Oh I had a job that meant I flew in to Cork for a while. Landing was like being on a bouncy castle. Everyone used to applaud when the pilot made it, often on the final third attempt.

Heartwarming story: Years ago, we were at a quiz night at my DS’s school (he’s autistic) DS kept making a beeline for the teddy bear on the raffle prizes table. When the first ticket was pulled out, a lovely lady (who could have won an amazing hamper) picked the teddy bear & gave it to him. She told me that she'd made up her mind that if she had a winning ticket she would give him that bear that he so obviously yearned for. I've never met her before but what an absolute sweetheart. Restores your faith in people :-)

This thread brought tears to my eyes.

13 years ago my baby was a few weeks old and we were relocating from one Aus city to another by plane. My husband was driving our car there so I was going solo.
On the flight I was seated next to a woman who was visiting one of her 6 adult children - it was the first flight she had ever done. So she was very confident with babies and I was confident with flying. She held my baby and chatted to me, I told her what the random noises on the plane were and we kept ourselves distracted and entertained for the couple of hours flight.
What a nice woman - I hope she remembers me as fondly as I remember her!

@WorkSmarter
I did.
I wish I could have thanked him.

Was going to a job interview and got lost on the way to the train station and was late. Ran into the station as the train I HAD to get to make the interview was just pulling into the station 3 platforms away over a bridge. I was running but had a heavy bag. Totally random guy also running for the train stopped, came back, grabbed my bag and then we ran together and literally jumped on the train as the doors shut. He handed me my bag with a gorgeous smile, we high fived and he went and sat down without a word.

i got the job and it totally changed my life and without him I wouldn’t have. I have often wondered about his life and wished I’d actually said thank you! I’m sure he knew but it still bothers me sometimes

This thread is lovely ❤️