To ask what's the nicest thing anyone has done for you?

[Pricklypear12]

Inspired by the nice little thread about nice little things...
What is the nicest thing(s) that anyone has ever done for you?
Big or small, I want to hear it all!

[zeebeedee]

Once on a camping holiday a dreadful storm totally destroyed our tent. A family in a camper van nearby gave us the key to their house and let their neighbour who was looking after it know. We used their phone and got booked in to a caravan park for another week.
The campsite were great too, and refunded the money for the nights we couldn't stay.

[vampirethriller]

@Pricklypear12 much better thank you! I've been clean and off the streets for six years now.

[Warsawa31]

I was riding home from a shift at a job I hated, it was pouring with rain and I was in tears.
Put the bike in the garden and walked in to the smell of my favourite takeaway curry. My wife had it all slid out with candles on and she hugged me and thanked me for carrying on providing for us even though she knew I hated that job. She told me I would get a new one soon enough. She was right.

Will never forget that.

[Mumski45]

Once when DH was working abroad and I had a toddler and a baby. I had had a rough day and it was evening but I hadn't eaten. DH phoned and we talked briefly about our day. Half an hour later a takeaway curry turned up at my door and I nearly sent it away thinking it wasn't for me. How ever it was my favourite indian and the penny dropped just before he left. DH had ordered it as a surprise for me. I will never forget that. It seems like such a little thing but meant so much at the time.

[OhWellThatsJustGreat]

Dh gave me a baby when he really really REALLY didn't want children.

[Pricklypear12]

@OhWellThatsJustGreat Aw did he come round eventually?

[ACupOfTeaSolvesEverything]

Just after my son was born the business I ran with my husband collapsed. We had to close our warehouse and make all the staff redundant. We lost everything. Our home, our assets, our savings, our main income. Suddenly we had to start again from zero.

Fast forward a couple of years and we had managed to pull ourselves up again but things were still tight. That particular month I hadn't been paid by a client who owed me a lot of money.

I walked to the village with my little boy to buy some food. Bought bread, eggs, milk then went to get some money from the cash point to go buy fruit and veg. And no money came out. As I was explaining to my son that we would wait for fruit until I got paid and my son was starting to cry I heard an old lady behind me saying "Excuse me!" quite loudly. Exasperated, I turned around expecting some kind of chastisement about my crying child.

There stood a small, frail-looking woman, aged around 80, holding out a five pound note. She told me to take it and buy my child some fruit and a cold drink because it was such a warm day. I refused but she and her husband were insistent. I cried, thanked them and took it. We bought fruit, and a bottle of water and even had enough left for my little boy to have an ice lolly.

I often think about that lady and wonder if she knew the shame I felt at taking the money and my deep gratitude that my son didn’t go without thanks to the kindness of a stranger.

[CouscousEvaporator]

@NumbersStation that made me all emotional. What a lovely mum.

Amazing thread

[polkadotpj]

This is just what I needed today. My bag turning up to visit me just before Christmas when mum was diagnosed with cancer and I had retreated into myself is mine. Mad busy time of year and horrid weather but she drove over an hour to see me. I love her

[NumbersStation]

@CouscousEvaporator

Like lots of other lovely mums, my mam is losing her memory. But to my dying day I will take that gift from her to me in my heart. And when times get harder down the road, I will always know my mam loved me.

So many heartwarming stories here.

[Gormless]

Some years ago I was in a real grip of depression and anxiety. A good friend who lived in Canada invited me to stay with him and his wife while I worked things through, and even offered to pay for my flights if I didn’t have the funds right then. I stayed with them for a couple of weeks (though was able to pay for my own travel) but will always be so grateful to them for such kindness just when I needed it most.

[HulaHoop2012]

I live in Ireland and my Parents live in England, my dad had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, we thought he had a couple of weeks.

I went over to England with my 6 week old baby to visit not expecting my dad to deteriorate so quickly, on a weekend we had to call an ambulance and a response car came, the paramedic told us dad was in the last few hours of life. Mum was not in a good way and it was just me, her and the baby.
We had to wait for a Dr to bring Medication for dad. The Paramedic stayed with us until the dr came. He put my baby in the sling and paced the hallway so I could be with my dad. The dr came and basically took
over she swaddled my baby in a way I was never able to recreate and he slept for 5 hours.

After dad had passed away I found a note in the kitchen from the paramedic saying “your dad would be proud” and under that a note from the dr saying “during the dark days put one foot in front of the other and keep walking”

The kindness of these two people still takes my breath away, they did exactly what we needed without being asked. Sometimes it is the kindness of strangers.

[Sparklyring]

Incredible thread

[QueenOfOversharing]

My DS (now 21) had lots of hip surgeries. The second surgeon he had was this incredible woman who was so kind to us both. She honestly really cared. Every operation, I would take him into anaesthetic room & leave when he was knocked out. Every single time I was in pieces - it's like seeing someone pass away.

Walking back with the nurse, we passed the surgeon. She turned round, walked back to me & just hugged me. I was sobbing & she whispered "I will look after him".

I'm crying typing this. I'm a single mum & never had any support at hospital - the kindness shown by doctors, nurses, play specialists kept me going. 🙏🏼💕

[TAKESNOSHITSHIRLEY]

a few years ago we were given 2 very large three seater settees that recline fully on each seat

they were worth 2 and half thousand each(i know because we took them to the shop to put in the order)

they were bought by a elderly couple that lived a few doors away and with in a few weeks of received them they both died (we think the man died of heartbreak 3 weeks later)

because we were helping them out,errands,shopping trips etc as we live on a 80 degree hill(not exaggerating either) and they couldn't walk up it from the bus so we used to run them around the son gave them to us for nothing .

i have infertility because of no periods due to severe PCOS(39 and never seen one ever)

i do have 2 kids but the 2nd was 4 years of fertility tablets,i was 1 month from starting ivf before i found out i was pregnant

any way a family member offered to give my some eggs if ivf went ahead

[Allyg1185]

Having a pretty shit time just now and got upset at work. Deputy manager put a gift bag on my passenger seat of my car containing a box of tissues, chocolate, a candle and a card saying it was ok not to be ok. Lovely person!

[LatteLover12]

Oh my goodness @Hulahoop2012 what amazing people they were. I think I have something in my eye...

[Welshmaenad]

Was visiting Belfast with my. Him seen, the sister of my then BF (not their dad) lived there. I had never met her. She asked if she could take us out for the day and picked us up at the hotel.

I had mentioned very briefly in passing on FB that my grandfather grew up in Downpatrick, which I had never seen, and she had remembered. She drove us to the town, showed us round, took me to the church he had attended as a boy, then with a little detective work we tracked down the house where he had lived. It was such an emotional visit and so wonderful. He had passed away 12 years before and I had lived with him as his carer in his final years. He meant the world to me and for her to remember and take me on that amazing journey was just beyond kindness.

Also she bought us all lunch and an ice cream. What a doll.

[Welshmaenad]

Children not him seen!

[CheeseFace]

I was mugged in Rio de Janeiro when I was on holiday on my own 5 years ago, and injured my knee when I fell.

What could have been a horrible experience was turned around by some wonderful people. Firstly (and mostly) the fabulous lady who drove me to the police station, translated for me, and drove me back to my guesthouse. Then the guesthouse owner who cleaned my knee and paid for a private tour a couple of days later so I could have pictures to replace those on the stolen phone. Then the guesthouse manager who bought me chocolate to cheer me up. Then an artist at the Selaron steps who saw I was struggling with my knee and fetched me a chair and a glass of water. The tour guide who translated for me in the chemist and took me to meet her friends; the policeman who stopped traffic so I could limp across the road; and the countless people who pushed me to the front of queues, got me on Subways first, and countless small acts of kindness.

[edwinbear]

Suffering from new shoes blisters as I commuted on the Northern line, blood pouring down both heels, I could hardly walk and ready to burst into tears.

A lady stopped and handed me two Compeed blister patches. My guardian angel

[ACupOfTeaSolvesEverything]

We had been struggling to have a baby for years and our last failed IVF had beaten us. We gave up and tried to move on but we were heartbroken. A few months later my lovely mum rang up and told me she had been taking on extra work and had saved up enough for us to go to an amazing clinic for one last try. I cried down the phone at her, I cried when she held my hand and we saw his heartbeat on the scan later that year and I still cry when I think about how she changed our lives. Our son is now 8 and my wonderful mum died last year. Not a day goes by where I’m not grateful for her gift to us.

[Rainbunny]

This was a long while ago - 2002. I had moved to Los Angeles for graduate school from the UK and after the first few months I'd become brave (foolish) enough driving around to buy my own car, a very beaten up Honda hatchback with a zillion miles on it.

One afternoon, driving back from my college I got lost which was still a common occurrence at that point but I ended up in a pretty scary neighbourhood (gangs) and my car decided to breakdown. Of course. This was back when cell phones were expensive and I had no money for that kind of extravangance, I also had no money for a repair service so I sat in my car trying not to cry, wondering how scared I should be given the neighbourhood.

Suddenly there was a tap on my car window and an oldish, heavily tattoed, skinny, scruffy man asked if I was okay and did I need help with my car. Logically I knew I should say no thanks and hope he would go away so I could figure out what to do myself - except I had no fucking clue what to actually do. So I said yes thank you, got out my car and the man popped the hood and got to work on the engine. Hearing my accent he talked about his time in the US army based in Germany so we chatted about the autobahn! He kept working on it for nearly two hours, under a hot sun and got my car working again.

This somewhat scary looking man (who 100% had seen jail time based on his self-made body art) took two hours out of his life helping me even though I had no money to pay him, he was a total gentleman. He also gave me directions to get back to where I needed to go and warned me that 'this wasn't a good neighbourhood Miss, so try not to get lost here next time!'

It was a very strange experience and even though I was deeply grateful to this man he was the most intimidating person I'd ever met in my sheltered 22 years of life. The kindness of strangers is a remarkable thing.

[Welshmaenad]

@SedentaryCat I was at Glastonbury in 97. Ye gods.

My mum picked me up with bin bags over the car seats and made me stand in the back garden in my underwear and hosed me off before she would let me in the house. She was great, my mum