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Tag: stranger

  • Dear Stranger I Think I May Have Ruined Your Day

    Dear stranger

    I may need to apologise to you, I think I may have ruined your day. You probably think I’m just another person who doesn’t understand, but I wanted to explain to you that I do. I get it. I wasn’t just another person staring at different, another person made to feel uncomfortable by a person not like myself. I wasn’t watching your son because I thought he was less than, I was watching him because I thought he was so much more.

    You see, in him I saw my future son. In you, I saw myself. You were just eating lunch, a normal everyday thing. Yet it was so much more than that. You were both deep in conversation, laughing and joking and oblivious to anything else around you. You just radiated fun, happiness and comfort.

    Your son has Down syndrome and he was happy. Living a life that others may view as worthless, yet it’s very clearly not. He shone! And you? The love and pride you have for your son was right there for all to see, you looked at him with nothing but joy. Not regret, not embarrassment and not pity. Just pure love.

    So I wanted to to thank you, because its parents like you that show parents like me that it’s going to be ok. It’s people like your son, that show parents like me a glimpse of our future and that we don’t need to fear it.

    I looked at you and I saw us.

    Yours sincerely

    A grateful Mother

    Credit https://www.facebook.com/IamRiverDownSyndromeAwareness/

     

  • Is This What Child Maintenance Is For?

    I am often told by others who never had to struggle to make ends meet, that I should just forget about child maintenance payments, so I can move on and forget my ex.

    Yesterday I let my 11 yr old daughter out with friends. I gave her £5 and hoped she would bring back change and not squander it, as it was put by to pay towards her P7 leavers hoodie.

    Her friends had much more to spend and went to a cafe. My daughter decided she didn’t have enough and felt guilty if she spent it, so wandered off to see if she could find anyone else to hang around with.

    She wandered to the other side of town. She has a mobile but I am unable to top it up. I phoned a few times to check she was ok but she didn’t answer.

    Finally I got a hold of her and she was crying and said she was upset as she felt unable to join her friends at the cafe.

    I put my shoes on to walk across town to meet her.( no car). As I headed down the road A car stopped and a disgruntled woman let my daughter out her car, muttering how irresponsible parents are to let their children wander off.

    My daughter was offered a lift home by a stranger. I’m still shocked how my daughter agreed to get in a stranger’s car.

    Once we calmed down, we had a chat why she got in the car. She says she felt so down and lonely as she couldn’t be with her friends in the cafe because I couldn’t afford to give her more money to spend and felt guilty if she spent it, she burst into tears and the woman stopped the car to offer her a lift She felt obliged to get in.

    I am lucky the woman was genuine and brought her back. I feel like the worst mum as I can’t provide her enough to top up her phone just now and let her have a normal teen social life.

    All because ex won’t pay child support.

    Emailed in and asked for anonymous blog post

    Is this what child maintenance is for? To help children to live normal lives, or is it just the mums responsibility to work harder to give her treats or both mum and dad?

  • After the Tragic Loss of her Son this Women Truly Discovered the Kindness of Strangers

    Valerie Watts experienced every parent’s worst fear.  When she was 9 months pregnant she very sadly received the heart breaking news that her baby son Noah had passed away.

    Understandably, Valerie was beyond devastated and having her home filled with her baby’s crib, clothes and baby toys didn’t help her grief.

    Valerie from Cokata, Minnesota, told Fox9 news:
    “All week I knew, he wasn’t moving as much. I was very nervous.”

    Valerie was so heartbroken by the traumatic experience of giving birth to her stillborn son that she didn’t touch Noah’s nursery for a year.

    However, once Valerie felt she was ready she decided to hold a garage sale to sell Noah’s belongings and furniture.

    An older man by the name of Gerald took a liking to the baby crib.  Gerald restores old furniture in his spare time and thought he could make use of the crib.

    “She was kind of hesitant, I knew that maybe she didn’t want to sell it. Yet she did,” Gerald told Fox9.

    Gerald didn’t realise the real reason behind the garage sale.  He had seen Valerie selling baby things assuming her child was older and had outgrown these things.

    Once Gerald was home he discovered his wife had been chatting to Valerie and found out the real reason for the garage sale.

    So moved by the story they knew this crib must have meant so much to her and why she seemed so hesitant to sell it.

    They discussed taking the crib back, but Gerald decided he needed to do something special for Valerie.

    Knowing how painful it must have been to have it in the shape of a crib – he decided to transform it into a beautiful bench as a memorial for baby Noah. 

    After a week, Gerald and his wife returned to Valerie’s house with the gift.  The unused crib was now a beautiful bench which would sit in her home as a memory of her Noah.

    Valerie was left in tears by the amazing act of kindness and generosity from a stranger.

    “It’s amazing, and there’s good people out there, there’s proof,” she tells Fox9.