PREVIOUS ARTICLE
We could all use an emotional pick-me-up, and lately you’ve been coming through with the best thoughts and anecdotes. So, without further ado, here are 12 feel-good reader comments…
On the right words…
“I was worried about making a good impression meeting my partner’s family for the first time. She said, ‘Who couldn’t like you? That’s like someone not liking bacon.’ Somehow being compared to bacon was the best compliment.” — Stephanie
“I was eight months pregnant during a hot Texas summer — sweaty and uncomfortable. My husband and I were at the grocery store, and this random woman stopped me and said, ‘I can tell you are over this, but you look beautiful, you are doing just GREAT, and you’ve totally got this.’ I burst into tears; it was the kindest thing a stranger has ever said to me. I try to pay the same thing forward when I see pregnant women with that same ‘look’ of misery.” — Liz
On kids’ sweetness:
“I’ve been teaching virtual piano lessons from home during quarantine. I usually go to my students’ houses to teach, so for some younger ones, they don’t totally realize I have a life outside of our piano lessons. The other day, I was teaching one of my seven-year-olds via FaceTime when all of a sudden he stopped me and said, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa. Where are you right now???’ I replied that I was at my house, sitting at the piano. He was completely shocked and said, ‘What!? You have your own house???’ He truly thought that I just appeared at his house for one hour a week then went the rest of the week hopping around to other students houses all day long. I love the way kids’ minds work.” — JN
“My three-year-old daughter was going through a phase where she would say, ‘You’re not my best friend!’ when she was mad. I was putting her to bed one night and she said it to me. I said that was ok, that even if I wasn’t her best friend I’d always be her mom. She replied with a very angry, ‘AND I’LL ALWAYS BE YOUR GRANDMA!!'” — Lauren
On furry friends:
“I have two cats and I always tell one that he or she is in charge when I leave. Then I remind the other cat to listen to the one who was left in charge. And I switch it up. So no one gets left out.” — Meghan
“Our evening routine lately has been for me to read to my husband from Mary Oliver’s Dog Songs, until I hit one that makes me cry (so many of them!) and then he rubs my back. It’s so nice to feel cozy together, and to chat about all the wonderful dogs we’ve known before we go to sleep.” — Kelly
“A few years ago, my cat died. That night, I went to dinner but just cried into my ramen. That is when a woman, a stranger, walked up to me. She said I looked like I needed a hug. I said yes, and there in the middle of the restaurant, I deeply hugged a stranger and cried in her arms. She didn’t ask me what had happened, and we didn’t exchange names. But to this day, many years later, I still think about how much that meant to me and how brave and vulnerable that woman was for offering up a hug to a stranger in need.” — Brittan
On romantic partnerships:
“The best poem I’ve heard in a wedding was about the Spanish sailing word ‘abarloados,’ which means when two boats are sailing parallel, at the same speed, same rhythm, with their own space but on the same path. Absolutely lovely, the idea is getting married with someone who will be ‘abarloado’ with you your entire life.” — Yolanda
On a tribute:
“My wonderful mom died when I was pregnant. She was a concert pianist and piano teacher who loved to enthusiastically declare that a young child had ‘piano hands.’ When I was on maternity leave, a sweet older gentleman was swooning over my infant son in the bookstore and exclaimed, ‘Look at those fingers! He is going to do something great with those hands!’ My heart both ached and swelled at the simple but (unbeknownst-to-him) significant kindness from a stranger — something my mom also demonstrated frequently in life.” — Fiona
On the eternal optimism of kids…
“My four-year-old told us earnestly after playing in our unkempt backyard, ‘I’m so glad they keep planting more dandelions after we pick the tallest ones. They know just when we need more to play with.’ When my spouse asked who ‘they’ are, my son shrugged and said, ‘I don’t know, but they are really nice.’ I hope he soaks in this sense of benevolence and shares it with those around him.” — Maggie
“My sister lives on 10 acres and recently got some chickens. One afternoon, my five-year-old niece was holding one of the chicks gently above her head. My sister inquired what she was doing and her response was, ‘I’m showing her the world.'” — L.
On new beginnings…
“The other day, we were waiting in line outside Trader Joe’s when the whole store suddenly erupted in applause. A young employee ran out of the TJ’s at full-speed. ‘His wife is in labor!’ someone said and we all cheered him on as he booked it to the car. It was such a beautiful, communal moment. It felt like we were all celebrating a new beginning together.” — Meghan
P.S. 11 more feel-good comments, and the nerdiest tip.
(Photo by Alicia Magnuson Photography/Stocksy.)
248 COMMENTS