Have you ever met a stranger, who you never saw again, that you still think about?

[Backinthe1960s]

It was at my local stamp club. We didn't get many new members turning up so when one did we all to used to make a big effort to make them feel welcome. It was the night of our annual quiz and he and I were in the same team. He seemed a really nice bloke with a vast knowledge of stamps and postal history and I thought he would be a good recruit for the club. Afterwards we went for a quick drink at the local pub, he paid for a drink for the two of us, then he went off towards the gents toilet.

I never saw him again and he never came back to the stamp club. For ages I wondered what happened to him.

Yes. 25 years ago I was sat on the back seat of a routemaster just going past horrids. I'd just sat my chemistry gcse and didn't know what the future held. This amazing looking man just looked up at me and grinned - little old me!

I was on the national express coming back from visiting my brother at uni, it was a nine hour trip. I got chatting to the lady sitting next to me, which was unusual for me as I was painfully shy at the time, at the age of 18. We talked for hours, she was a grandma visiting her extended family in one huge trip of Britain because she had moved to Australia some years before.

We exchanged addresses and she wrote to me inviting me to visit her in Australia! She lived in a house that was carved out of an underground cave due to the extreme heat, it sounded amazing. But sadly, being a shy 18 year old, I was too embarrassed to write back. I really regret that now.

Less regretty, same trip. I was sitting on Brighton Beach, enjoying the novelty of being away from my parents for the first time. A bloke who looked the spitting image of the lead singer of Def Lepperd starting talking to me, and invited me to a 'party' at his house... Luckily I was naive, but not that naive to imagine someone of late 20s early 30s might not have innocent motives to a lovely curvy 18 year old. (I used to think I was fat... What I'd give to have that figure back now!)
A teeny part of my brain wonders what would have happened, but my sensible brain is very grateful that I didn't get swept up in the moment. It could have ended horribly.

I bought lunch for a homeless man who wrote a poem for me on my meeting papers to say thank you. I still have the poem but have always wondered what happened to him. He was gone when I came out of the meeting and I have never seen him again. He was lovely and too old to be living on the streets. I always regretted not doing more to help him when I first saw him.

Awesome thread, OP.

Lovely reading so far. These r the kind of things that make Mumsnet. Brilliant .

On a train, aged about 17, I sat opposite a married couple. They were both very elderly, I'd say over 80, and by the way they were with each other, the age of their rings etc, they'd been married a really long time. The thing that struck me about them was that he was white and she was asian. Obviously not something that would really register had they been a young couple. But their age made me wonder a lot about their lives - how they had met, whether their relationship had always been plain sailing, things like that. They seemed very quiet and sweet and still loved up. I wish I'd talked to them a bit.

I used to run a small coffee shop in a quiet holiday village. We had a couple of men come in one day, they ate, and stayed on enjoying the view and just chatting. I was also studying at the time and one of them asked what I was doing. I told him it was a mental heath course. That started a discussion about him having a severe mental illness, the same as my husband, and how he and his brother had come to that area to relive their childhood as he had terminal cancer.
I went on holiday the next day so the cafe was closed for a few days and we never saw them again. Always wondered how things were

I didn't meet him, but I had a lightening bolt experience straight in to my chest when I walked past a young guy on my local High Street when I was about 18. He looked at me and I looked at him and I've never ever felt anything like it before or since (despite many relationships and a fair bit of shagging around). I was with my mum at the time, if I hadn't been then perhaps things would be different. I still think about him very occasionally.

When I was 18 I didn't get my expected A level results so the day after results I had an interview through clearing.
I was on the train travelling to a city I'd never been to feeling scared and like a failure.

A lovely young man with bright blue eyes and curly hair started talking to me - he told me that going through clearing had been the best thing that had ever happened to him, and he had ended up at a university that was perfect for him and he was sure the same thing would happen to me.
He talked me through some of the questions they might as me at interview and told me that I would be fine.

I had got on the train feeling miserable and useless - I got off feeling I could tackle anything.

I rarely post and mostly lurk (hence the shit name) but wanted to say this is probably the best thread ive ever read. Lovely stories. Reinforces my belief that we have the power to make an impact in someone's life however brief the interaction. Awesome work ??

On a train going from Rome to Bologna when I was 21 and I was really stressed out, broke, worried about traveling alone and hungry and nervous, close to crying. Then a girl got on the train with this long, blond plait, no reserved seat so she just sat on the floor. She seemed really happy and relaxed and had a sketchbook with her. She spoke to me first and I started talking about how tired and stressed I was and that I was on my way to Germany. She reassured me (we spoke in German) and said it would all be fine.

Then she got talking to two Italian guys about our age and they all sat together and sketched each other and were really relaxed in each other's company. I was so impressed with her and her air of carefree happiness, the easy way she had with the two guys, chatting to them but not flirting or being intimidated either. I wished I had half her confidence and happiness. I felt like I was carrying around so much baggage of anxiety and worry by comparison.

She is someone I often think back to when I am feeling stressed or letting life get on top of me.

I was spending the train journey miserable and stressed, feeling so burdened, whereas she treated the train journey as an adventure, an opportunity, a chance to get to know interesting people and enjoy life. I try to emulate that attitude more from having met that girl.

I was on the train down to London a few years ago and got talking to a lovely woman. We had been moved into first class as there were no seats in the rest of the train and she was so cheeky commanding the staff to get her drinks and food. Anyway, she told me she was scared because her ex was due to be released from prison after 20 odd years. He'd murdered their new born baby.

The grief she had was still raw as the day it all happened. I often still think of her.

Every day in my job I talk to total strangers and many of them stick in my mind and I wonder/worry about them.

I speak to fascinating people.

Years ago, went on a snorkelling trip. Got in the water, swam away from friends a fair bit, realised I was feeling very very nauseous and faint. Started throwing up whilst holding onto small flotation device for dear life (water was about 100 ft deep)
Friends etc totally unaware.
Out of the blue (literally) this really attractive guy with the nicest eyes and teeth just appeared and grabbed me. I told him to back away cos I was covered in sick but he insisted in helping me and stays with me for a bit then helped me et back to my boat. He carried me on, laid me down, said goodbye and dove over the side! I thought he must've been with our boat but when I was feeling a bit better on the way home and looked for him, he wasn't on our boat. I've never forgotten him.

More then 20 years ago I was waiting in the vets' waiting room and a woman came in.
She was probably in her forties, about the age I am now. She was wearing no makeup, linen navy trousers and a loose white top. Her hair was in a plait.
I thought she was the most beautiful, stylish woman I had ever seen - it wasn't what she was wearing - she just looked so comfortable in her own skin and she had amazing bone structure.
At the time I aspired to be like her, not the actual look but the 'togetherness' of her look.
Have I achieved it ... no!

A few years ago I was waiting for a bus and there was an elderly lady at the bus stop too, she said hello and started chatting to me
Out of nowhere she told me she was psychic and that she didn't usually tell people that as then they would ask questions and she never liked it in case there was bad news to be given

My bus arrived and as I got on she said "you'll have a little baby boy soon" I was a bit but 8 months later I did indeed have a little boy

I never saw her again but I always think of her when I'm waiting at that bus stop

Once, about ten years ago on my walk to work, there was a man lying on the pavement on the other side of the road, sobbing and howling like I had never heard anyone do before. It was an awful sound so I crossed over to see if he needed help... i thought he'd maybe had an accident and offered to call an ambulance, but he said he wasn't hurt, he was just feeling unbearably sad. He was French I think, and didn't know anyone in town.

I talked to him for a while, and he held my hand while he cried. I asked him if he wanted a cup of coffee or anything, but he just wanted to lay there and talk and cry. Poor man. By now a small audience had surrounded us, people asking me if he was alright, no one really sure what to do. One of them must have called an ambulance, so when that showed up the ambulance people took care of him. I said goodbye and went on to work.

I still think about him, and wonder how he is.

I remember going to a concert in London with a group of friends when I was a teenager. We were all on the tube on the way to Wembley, and sitting opposite us was a truly beautiful man, he was wearing a really sharp suit, and a pair of Converse trainers. He just looked so seriously cool to me, I pretty much fell in love with him there and then.

I was 15, worked a MaccyD in Budapest.
In walked an American girl with the most amazing red hair and the greenest eyes I have ever seen.
she was just so beautiful

I think of her every time a conversation is about red hair or green eyes

In 1980 I was 20 I was in London and giving out soup and sandwiches and drinks of tea, sometimes in milk bottles, to people, mostly men, who were living on the streets.
One man came to the door who was a little older than me and so incredibly sad. He reminded me of my brother and after he had gone I left without telling anyone to see if I could find him. I walked for miles with a £5 note, all the money I had, although I did have a place to stay with food etc, searching for him but didn't find him. I probably broke all the rules but didn't care. His sadness touched me so much. I was distraught not finding him. Even these days I wonder how he is and hope he managed to get off the streets and make a happy life for himself.

upseedaises how awful

My birth with my son was traumatic and during labour I was rushed to theatre for an EMCS. It was a category 1 so the staff were being so fast, being very stern and I was terrified. My DP couldn't come in while I had the spinal done. I don't know what the man's job was - I am assuming a theatre nurse or something but there was this man through all the haziness and confusion who had the biggest smile and explained all that was happening and was comforting me. I remember he had a beard like my DP, he was chubby and had such a kind face and eyes and I instantly just liked him.

Once the spinal was in and they were prodding me with forceps to check I was sufficiently anaesthetised my DP came in - he looked shell shocked as he was finding it so scary, though he was trying his best to comfort me. The lovely theatre nurse spoke to us both, told me when they were pulling my son out, cleaning him up and got me a tissue to wipe my eyes because I burst into tears. He brought our son to us.

When I was getting sewed up my DP and son had to wait in recovery for me. The nurse stayed chatting to me, smiling and just generally being lovely.

I don't know his name, but I do sometimes think of him, he was so lovely to me and my DP during such a traumatic time. I'm glad I was able to thank him at the time, he was an absolute angel (I know it sounds so cheesy but he really was). I know all the staff did an amazing job that night but he just stood out to me.

Remember the day as students my friend and I were on a shopping trip and on impulse went into a patisserie. The lady at the next table looked a little emotional but we exchanged smiles. This was before mobile phones btw. She said,
"I'm sorry do excuse me but I must tell someone. I've just been given the all clear from cancer."

Of course we made all the right noises and congratulated her and eventually a companion joined her.

When we got up to go we all said goodbye and never saw her again but I have often thought of her.

When I was 11, I had to have an operation and stay in hospital for a few days. On my ward was just myself and another girl who was probably about 14. If I recall correctly she was in for an operation on her ear(s). Well we really hit it off, and our stay in hospital actually became quite fun! I remember the night before my op, she snuck us both down to the TV room to watch the X Files. Her mother was lovely, she would bring in drinks and treats for us, and my parents would also do the same for us. Between her mother and my parents, it felt like we always had someone there looking after us.

The day I left, I remember walking past her bed, she had bandages around her head and was asleep. If I remember correctly her recovery wasn't going well. I never got to say goodbye to her or thank her for all the fun we had.

I often wonder who she was, what her name was (it's disappeared from my head after 20 years), and whether she recovered ok.

I wish there was a way for us to find all these people.

I was second on.scene at a horrific accident. I arranged for those wounded but walking to be cared for and one lady I took under my wing - she had just seen a relative die. I often think of all of them but especially this lady.

I was on a train several years ago, reading a book about atheism. A very, very old man sitting across the aisle struck up a conversation about what I was reading. It turned out he had been a theology professor at a very highly respected university. We had a fantastic conversation, a really challenging (for me!) exchange. He was so calm and measured in what he had to say, whereas I was like a wasp in a jam jar. When we pulled into our station it turned out his onward connection wasn't running, so I found out where he needed to go to get his replacement bus service and he took my arm as I carried his case for him and gradually walked him through the station. Before he got on his bus he kissed my cheek and said,'My dear, you are the most Christian atheist I have ever met.' It was a time in my life when I didn't feel very good about myself - he made me think I wasn't a complete arsehole.

I often think of him - he was very old and rickety so may no longer be with us. I hope he knew he was a good and kind man.