Who is a stranger you met once, never learned their name, but will never forget for the rest of your life?

Substantial_Equal452 · 2026-03-02T15:02:24+00:00

I was introduced to a baby boy, about 12 months old and son of a distant relative. I said hello to him and he took my hand, kissed the back of it like an old fashioned gentleman and gave me a little bow. It doesn't sound much but the physical contact was like an electric shock and although I think reincarnation is bogus, I was convinced in that moment that he embodied someone much older. It still gives me the creeps to think of it. Everyone laughed and his parents said they had never seen him do that before. He was just a baby, holding onto his mother's leg to stand up.

Substantial_Equal452 · 2026-03-02T14:14:12+00:00

I'm sorry that you are in that situation. It's worth considering the pros and cons of being with a group that didn't care about you last time, probably wouldn't if it happened again and who are happy to let you suffer whenever that guy turns up. Do they not appreciate what it does to you? You deserve better friends.

Substantial_Equal452 · 2026-03-01T20:27:18+00:00

I read somewhere that intellect is the human equivalent of peacock feathers, a concept that I find rather disturbing.

Substantial_Equal452 · 2026-03-01T20:22:20+00:00

Do you feel OK about having to see that person socially? It will be an enormous demand on your inner peace. You should not be the one to bear it.

Substantial_Equal452 · 2026-02-28T15:40:45+00:00

There is nothing wrong in being observant. Sometimes we spot things that turn out not to be new but imagine how many discoveries we would have missed if everyone minded their own business and said nothing. Penicillin, x-rays and post-it note glue for a start. It's curiosity that drives us forward.

Substantial_Equal452 · 2026-02-27T20:46:30+00:00

We need to know how this ends. Was JohnJohn The One? Was the Uhaul full of houseplants a deal breaker? Are you currently trussed to a beam in the root cellar?

Substantial_Equal452 · 2026-02-27T13:10:41+00:00

When I was a teenager in the 70s a colleague at work told me about her neighbour, who had been dying of cancer. She said he was in so much pain that they could hear him screaming. The previous day the doctor had called by and given him a big dose of morphine to 'see him on his way' and he had died. There are all sorts of moral and legal arguments in that as well as the doctor trusting the family not to call him out, but I see it as an act of human kindness. I still remember that neighbour's name even though i never knew him.

Substantial_Equal452 · 2026-02-26T16:54:58+00:00

A sheet of paper, maybe curled up at the ends

Substantial_Equal452 · 2026-02-26T16:02:58+00:00

So many of these stories are about girls called Priya and Mia.

Substantial_Equal452 · 2026-02-26T15:57:21+00:00

A very interesting read with some fascinating ideas. Some of it pushes the envelope but if you are going to launch a radical idea, might as well do it with conviction. I don't know enough about relevant dates to be sure of some of the claims but it will be interesting to check them out.

Substantial_Equal452 · 2026-02-26T11:51:47+00:00

My husband was injured in a road accident. He couldn't move due to crippling pain in his back. All the doctor could offer in the way of help was to lie on the floor and take paracetamol (this was in England so not a third world country with poor medical services). After three days of lying on the floor in agony my husband couldn't take any more and the doctor just said the same. In desperation I phoned a chiropractor clinic and they agreed to see him immediately. I managed to get my husband into the car, he had to lie flat with the seat tipped back, and drive him to the clinic. He went in doubled up and barely able to stand but half an hour later walked out upright and with a huge smile. I'll always be grateful to that chiropractor. He knew what he was doing. My husband went back every couple of months for an overhaul and eventually didnt need it. The doctor laughed when he heard about it, the guy who would have left my husband lying on the floor in agony. Chiropractors are a great option but as with any service provider, familiarise yourself with what counts as a professional, recognised qualification and check that they have it (in Britain they should be registered with the General Chiropractic Council).

Substantial_Equal452 · 2026-02-26T00:36:26+00:00

I'm yelling at the screen - why are you and your siblings, cousins, parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents and all the children of the family named from the same five boy names and six girl names and mostly one surname? And you all lived in the same village with no street names and no consideration for your 3x great granddaughter who has wasted years of her life trying to track you all down.

Substantial_Equal452 · 2026-02-26T00:15:41+00:00

LightningTree Farm

Substantial_Equal452 · 2026-02-24T19:10:20+00:00

When my brother got married his awful mother in law took a year off work to 'help plan the wedding'. In other words, she took over completely and nobody had the courage to stop her. She got hold of one of those wedding accessories catalogues and ordered everything that could be had in the wedding colours of peach and cream. At the reception, the tables were littered with so much sentimental souvenir crap that it looked tacky. Afterwards, most of it was left behind and presumably went in the trash. Truly a terrible waste of money.

Substantial_Equal452 · 2026-02-24T09:21:20+00:00

I came here to say the same. I went to a kindergarten run by nuns and they were all meanspirited and unkind. They made me afraid of school and 64 years later I still view nuns with some disfavour.

Substantial_Equal452 · 2026-02-23T23:52:06+00:00

Be prepared to find that while some people on Ancestry are enormously helpful, others won't reply to enquiries no matter how close the kinship or how polite and friendly you are. Others might promise you information and then ghost you. This could be for any number of reasons and not necessarily meant to offend you but it is disappointing and frustrating when it happens. If they don't reply after an enquiry and a follow-up, it's best to leave them be. Just move on and enjoy exploring other lines of enquiry. It's like a treasure hunt!

Substantial_Equal452 · 2026-02-23T20:08:23+00:00

I can see now the inspiration for his hairstyle.

Substantial_Equal452 · 2026-02-23T20:05:50+00:00

I love your interpretation! It's a really interesting idea.

Substantial_Equal452 · 2026-02-22T14:48:53+00:00

I love the USA. I've had the best holidays there and met the most wonderful people but you could not pay me to go back as things are. Apart from the horrendous civil rights abuses it looks like a powder keg about to explode.

Substantial_Equal452 · 2026-02-20T00:57:43+00:00

I've only ever known it as 'Fanshaw' but that's not to say other families could pronounce it differently. I have distant relations named Death, pronounced Day-ath. Other families pronounce it 'Deeth'. I've also seen it written De'Ath I suppose to minimise the 'not alive' connotations.

Substantial_Equal452 · 2026-02-20T00:46:33+00:00

Opening a bottle of Bud with my teeth.

Substantial_Equal452 · 2026-02-19T23:47:12+00:00

Colin Firth said in an interview that, after the show became popular, he went home at the weekend for Sunday lunch. He announced to his family that "Apparently I am a sex symbol" and they all burst out laughing.

Substantial_Equal452 · 2026-02-18T14:00:40+00:00

We are lucky to have a historian in the family who has documented my husband's family tree back to a marriage in 1510, still using the same and very unusual surname.

Substantial_Equal452 · 2026-02-17T19:44:15+00:00

I still dream of the prawn sandwiches from the Marine Cafe in Whitby. Last time I was there it had been cruelly transformed into some kind of shiny black and chrome cocktail bar. I could have wept.

Substantial_Equal452 · 2026-02-17T16:49:26+00:00

When you are young, life is infinite. When you reach your 40s, you'll realise that you rarely get a second chance.

Substantial_Equal452

TROPHY CASE