The kindness of strangers: alone within the crowd at Glastonbury, a stranger hugged me tight whereas I cried about my lifeless dad | Australian life-style

My father died after I was 19, after a brief and sharp battle with most cancers. Unsure of what to do or find out how to proceed with life, I took a yr off college and went backpacking by Europe. The different facet of the world appeared like an excellent place to be.

I ended up on the music pageant Glastonbury in 2011. It was an excellent lineup that yr however there was one act on the invoice that actually caught my eye: U2. They had been my dad’s favorite band, so it appeared solely proper that I ought to go and see them. Of course, U2 aren’t precisely an enormous draw for folks my age, so I ended up alone within the large crowd on the foremost stage whereas my pals noticed different bands.

It seems that even when you go so far as the opposite facet of the world, you may’t run away out of your grief. The solar had simply set and, because the music began taking part in, a wave of emotion hit me. U2 have a tune referred to as One, which options the road “One life with each other/ sisters, brothers”. When my dad was fairly sick, my sister would play that tune on repeat in his hospital room. As quickly as U2 began taking part in that tune, I simply began crying.

As I sobbed silently to myself, an attractive stranger subsequent to me, wearing a pink tutu, requested me if I used to be OK. I informed her about my dad and she or he simply drew me in, holding me tight and never letting go. Every time I’d cry, she would hug me tighter, as we swayed to the music. This went on for over an hour. At the top of the set she gave me a really sisterly kiss on the brow and wandered off into the space.

When you lose a dad or mum at 19, it places you far forward of your friends, and never in a great way. Lots of people imply effectively however they don’t understand how that will help you. But this lady’s pure empathy was cathartic; it was unimaginable. It was a kind of moments the place you don’t realise how a lot you want consolation till you obtain it.

I’ll by no means know her identify and possibly couldn’t decide her out of a lineup, however she gave me the primary second I’d felt at peace in a yr. I hope the whole lot in life has gone as effectively for her as she deserves, as a result of folks like that deserve nothing however the perfect.

What is the nicest factor a stranger has ever finished for you?