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Original poster

Things that stay with you.

471 replies

penfriends · 04/06/2016 23:42

What random things have struck a chord with you?

Mine is a Postsecret card that said:

"Everyone who knew me before 9/11 think I'm dead"

I read it years ago but I think about that person. Family, parents, siblings.

Just one sentence but it's stayed with me fore years.

OP posts:
HappinessLivesHere · 10/06/2016 16:53

Mines a happy one! Talking about the man who got shot protecting his wife during the Tunisia terrorist my dh turned to me and said 'I'd do that in heartbeat to protect you'.

iamwomanhearmesnore · 10/06/2016 19:06

Some lovely memories on here and also some awful ones - Flowers to those who have had cruel comments and behaviour sticking with them.

It's sad how the negative comments can stick and how sometimes we can lose sight of the wonderful things people say and do when these things deserve to be cherished and remembered forever. Having said that, it's probably a good thing to write some of the negative stuff down so you can objectively see how unfair and ridiculous it was.

I think bertie'sgal hit the nail on the head when she said often people are just projecting their own inner unhappiness when they say cruel stuff, which isn't to excuse it but rather to remember that their bile is not about you, it's about them.

Tummyrumbled · 10/06/2016 19:18

This.

Waterlemon · 10/06/2016 19:22

I have a couple - I'm one of those people that always seem to attract random strangers or maybe I'm just too polite to ignore them???

A "fortune teller" came into my place of work when I was about 20yrs old and offered to do me a reading (if I crossed his Palm) I thought he was just trying to con me out of a fiver but he was remarkably accurate with his predictions! The main prediction being that My future husband was already known to me but it would still be a huge surprise to everyone including me! Which it was. Sadly he also said that I would never be rich - but I would have a rich live and will always be happy! So far so good!

StrangeLookingParasite · 10/06/2016 19:24

I remembered one today, that my sister said to me years ago 'your feelings are not wrong, it's not wrong to feel anything, they're just your feelings'.

I don't know if it makes sense, but it was in relation to feeling wrong to feel something, or not feel something? i can't remember which.

dafuqisdis · 10/06/2016 20:14

I was on the bus when I was about 13 and a family got on, mum and 5 or so kids. They weren't very clean, dirty hair, unwashed clothes. They were a bit smelly :( They had been to town and had shopping. The mum had bought them all a new toothbrush each that came with one of those little toothpaste samples. The kids all got theirs own and started playing with them. They were so excited, it was obvious they never got new things. I think that was the first time It ever really struck me that not everyone has a nice or easy life

Liiinooo · 10/06/2016 20:23

Strangelooking

Another way of phrasing that is 'there is no such thing as a wrong emotion'. Whatever you are feeling at a given moment, no matter how illogical and irrational it might seem to be, is your own real,true self coming through.

If you can stay in touch with your feelings and identify them accurately (harder than it sounds), you will begin find them easier to understand and accept.

NewtoCornland · 10/06/2016 20:24

Mine's a happy one....

As an A&E nurse it can sometimes be difficult giving patients the time to talk that they need. A few months ago I encountered a young girl who had overdosed after becoming totally overwhelmed by life but she had some regret. I closed the curtains and talked to her for nearly an hour and shared some of my life with her (I made a very serious, almost definite, attempt on my life). I gave her information on the services I accessed and how I had turned my life around from that point. I reassured her that depression no longer carries the stigma that it had and, when she said she feared she could never fulfill her dream of becoming a nurse because of what she had done it told her that, given the state I was in at her age, if I could do it then so could she. She hugged me.

Last month I received a letter to the department from her thanking me for the time I took to talk and that she had been to the appointments made with MH services and will be starting a health and social care diploma in September.

In 15 years all I have ever hoped for is to make a difference to 1 person and I can now retire in 30 years happy knowing I've achieved my goal.

ssd · 10/06/2016 20:24

when my mum died and I had to clear her house out and I was shocked to realize I'd have to do it myself as sister was going on holiday, I said "but what about mums house" and she said "there's nothing there that means anything to me". ...that utterly shocked me and always will

Liiinooo · 10/06/2016 20:25

Dafu

Another one that made me cry.

ssd · 10/06/2016 20:30

actually I could fill a book with things my sister has said to me. like on my wedding day, when my old dad had cancer and was standing outside for some fresh air and I asked where he was and she said "outside, stupid old bugger."

I dont go near her now

HeresashatinaboxpAt · 10/06/2016 20:43

At a difficult time in my life when I felt I had to make a choice a nurse said to me " you can have your cake and eat it!" She was right I chose both and never felt so strong. Choice being to be a nurse or continue my pregnancy... I kept on chosing I went on to study again and have another baby then change my path completely... To that nurse... Thank you, thank you, thank you!

TheCatCushion · 10/06/2016 20:44

A nice one - I saw my tutor's wife (I babysat for them) on the last day I was at University. She said to me - this place is like Hotel California - you never really leave. That really resonated with me and it was true - I have carried a piece of that place with me ever since

ssd · 10/06/2016 20:45

cattheifkeith, that made me cry.

AdmiralCLingus · 10/06/2016 20:47

Another thing that's always stuck with me is when I was pregnant with dd is was really really ill (I ended up hospitalised with hg) ex had forced me to go to work after a few days of sick. I was on the bus on the way in and started with that feeling that I was going to be sick very imminently. There were two elderly ladies sat in the seats opposite and one emptied all her shopping out of the bagame and handed it to me to be sick in. She patted my back and said "she'll be worth every moment like this. You'll be okay"

She was so kind and caring and it was exactly what I needed right then. And sheven was so right! (Even if dd is a massive PITA Sometimes!)

Eliza22 · 10/06/2016 21:16

Elsa that is so sad. Flowers

buddy79 · 10/06/2016 22:39

I worked in social services for many years, which sadly did bring me into contact with a huge array of damaged lives. I often think about one lady in particular who on the surface was managing well and only came to our attention because of a routine hospital stay. When I went to see her at home, the house was in a horrendous state - not that uncommon. A colleague of mine took on the case and a few days later told me that the lady, who was in her fifties, had been 'given away' to a relative at the age of four. It seems that the experience of being unwanted at such a young age had eventually manifested into her current situation. I burst into tears ( very unlike me at work!) and always feel so so sad when I think about her. She did, fortunately, get lots of support after that. I've dealt with many more 'serious' situations but that one really affected me.
On a more positive note, I also worked with a lovely family who had been through horrendous experiences due to physical and mental health needs. The Father said to me that in life, he has learned to "dance to the tune that is playing". Amazing man. That has really stuck with me aswell. Oh dear the tears!

Olddear · 10/06/2016 23:16

My dad was a man of very few words. On my wedding day, when I walked out of the bedroom in my wedding dress he said 'you look like a princess' coming from him meant so much to me!
He's not with us anymore, but I've never forgotten his words to me, I'm crying even now thinking about it!

ButterflyCakes2016 · 11/06/2016 07:18

Olddear, what a lovely memory to have Smile

Olddear · 11/06/2016 08:02

butterflycakes yes, because he came across as rather brusque, I only realise now he was actually a very shy man, so it was really something to hear that!

NickiFury · 11/06/2016 08:23

I think this thread should be nominated for classics. I keep coming back to it and being so moved by the posts. It shouldn't just disappear, which it will do if in Chat.

MoreCakeMoreCake · 11/06/2016 08:28

My mum - telling me off when I was about 10 and comparing me to my sister (who was a PITA when we were growing up)
"I'd rather have 10 of her than one of you."

Nearly 25 yrs later and I'll never forget those words.

Flumplet · 11/06/2016 08:30

One time when I was a teenager we had been playing hockey and for some reason I left the hockey field carrying a ball instead of putting it back in the box. Thinking my friends were walking behind me, I said out loud something like 'oh silly me, why have I brought this with me?' It was actually a couple of boys from one of the senior years walking behind me and one said 'I'll put it back for you' I turned around and he pulled a look of disgust at seeing my face and said 'Eugch! Actually maybe not!' And they all absolutely killed themselves laughing. That always stayed with me.

Another one was my mum, saying that one of her friends had seen me in town and commented that I was 'a stunning girl'. My mum took great pleasure in telling me that she had responded that I have terrible skin close up and that I wear a lot of makeup to cover it. Thanks mum.

Another time when I was at college. I had been bullied by the same pair of girls in the year above me throughout secondary school - one of was an ex-girlfriend of my boyfriend. They verbally abused me constantly. I had a lot going on (my father was dying from cancer) so I asked for help from my personal tutor. When explaining that I was being bullied about my weight, her first comment was "well flumplet, you're not slim. Have you considered losing weight?"

Another time in my last year at primary school. I had gotten my period and leaked through my underwear so was too embarrassed to change for p.e so fibbed and said I had forgotten my kit. My head teacher who was also my class teacher found out and humiliated me in to confessing I had lied in front of my whole class. I'll never forget the embarrassment as she said "why did you lie? Tell us all? Oh look, here come the waterworks..."

Flumplet · 11/06/2016 08:31

On a positive note I'll never forget that my last words too and from both my grandad and my dad were 'I love you'

Flumplet · 11/06/2016 08:34

*to (obvs)