20+ Heartwarming Stories of Kindness That Brought Strangers Together

Internet is full of heartwarming stories where an "Everything okay?" or a "Let me help you with that" became the start of a friendship, an inspiring story or, at the very least, an anecdote that restores your faith in humanity. So today we invite you to read some of those stories that prove that a little kindness can bring us closer than we imagine.

“This level of kindness needs to be studied”

The note says: "TO ALL DELIVERY PEOPLE! PLEASE ENJOY A SNACK + BEVERAGE."

• I had a knock on my door and when I opened it there was a stranger with a gift voucher for me from a local garden shop. Apparently, her child had been plucking tulips from my garden every day to give to his mother, and they wanted to pay for them when they found out whose garden they came from.
  I had thought it was squirrels and had regretted planting them the year before and not being able to enjoy them! I spent the voucher on more bulbs! @Greenfireflygirl / Reddit
• Last summer, in a Wendy's, I bumped into a childhood friend I hadn't seen in more than 40 years. He recognized me, rushed over, startled me a little, and immediately began a barrage of questions. We were both in our 70s, widowers, and everyone we both knew was long dead and buried, so our conversation was rather depressing. When I asked him how he recognized me after all these years, he laughed and said, "Nobody's got a nose like yours!" @Unknown / Reddit
• I was in hospital, knowing I'd be there for at least a week, maybe more. I was fed up with the hospital food, so I went downstairs to walk across the street to the hospital subway. I was quite far back in the hospital - sixth floor, back of the building, maze of stairs and corridors to get out the front door.
  The walk from there to the subway took almost fifteen minutes, even though it was just across the street. I waited in line, went up to the counter to order, and realized I'd left my wallet in my room. (I usually keep my wallet in my back pocket, but in the hospital I didn't need to as I was in my room most of the time). I was mentally exhausted by this point, told them I'd forgotten my wallet, and turned to make the trip back and forth.
  Suddenly, a nurse behind me bought my food for me, saving me the trip (and the money). I thanked him profusely. That was years ago, but I will never forget that act of kindness. @Unknown / Reddit

"This is Dan. Every Wednesday and Thursday, he goes to local cancer centers and buys a cup of coffee for every patient, nurse, doctor and everyone in between - straight out of his own pocket."

• When I bought my house, the previous owner had died, so a lot of stuff was left behind. Including his wallet and briefcase. Several family photo albums dating back to the 40s. 100's of letters and cards dating back to the 20s including love letters, family tree (about 25 feet long rolled up), great-grandmother's passport, marriage license...basically every important document or memento from this family.
  This guy was interesting! He made jewelry, did leather work, built his own cabin in the mountains. I had the plans and pictures when it was finished, he owned race horses and sailed all over the world. I knew he had a daughter...but was told she was a hippy living on the beach in Santa Monica.
  I kept everything for 15 years. I was cleaning out my garage and found some children's books...and I found the daughter's name! The book said, "To (her name) love Daddy" I googled her first name and maiden name. She is a school teacher & real estate agent! She kept her maiden name.
  I finally found her, we both cried on the phone. She didn't have anything from her father as he had remarried and died before his wife. I sent her everything. I finally found my long-lost stranger. @_iron_butterfly_ / Reddit
• I'm a wheelchair user. At a baseball game, a little girl ran up to me and climbed on my lap. Her mother apologized, but I told her it was fine, no worries - looking at the girl's face, I could tell she had some kind of developmental disability.
  The mother explained to me that the little girl's grandfather used a wheelchair, and she missed him. I rolled around a bit to give her a ride, she giggled and had a good time, then got off and went back to her mum. @manualpropulsion / Reddit

“To the stranger who paid for my sandwich today: It’s been a tough couple of days. My uncle died this week, and while I was waiting in line at the drive-through, I wrote his memorial card.”

"Your kind gesture & this sandwich have given me the energy to carry on. Thank you, I will pay it forward."

• I was travelling from the south of England to the north of Scotland to start a new job the next morning. I had taken the train to London and was due to catch an early morning flight from Heathrow. However, the bus to the airport was cancelled, and I had to make my own way on a series of night buses.
  But it was about 2.30am, my phone was dead, and I had never used London's night buses before. I was young and a little scared, standing in the middle of Victoria trying to make out the faded bus timetable, when a woman came up to me and asked, "Are you all right, love?" And I tearfully explained that I thought I was going to miss my flight and didn't even have an Oyster card.
  She looked up my route on her phone, wrote down all the possible variations of buses and trains I would need to take, including the times. She waited with me the whole time, about twenty minutes, THEN when the bus pulled up she paid for my fare (no cash on London buses). I got off and looked at her, and she shrugged and said, "Oh, I'm not getting the bus, you just looked like you needed someone."
  I think about her now and then, and I'm incredibly grateful for her. @Unknown / Reddit

"My wallet was stolen from my car a few nights ago, and I found this on my doorstep this morning. Thank you, kind stranger, for taking the time to make my day!"

• When I was 16, I'd gone to the cinema in my mum's old Pontiac Bonneville and was in such a hurry that I forgot to turn off the lights. When I came out, the car was dead, but someone had left a set of jumper cables on the bonnet with a note saying, "Hope you make it home safely." I've never forgotten that. Since then, I've tried to repay that kindness in any way I can. @ID*** / Reddit
• A few years ago, I was in a deep depression. My life was a mess, my flat was a mess, I was a mess. For a moment I decided to just go and sit in the park for a while because I was really at the end of my rope and had no idea what to do.
  Out of nowhere, a child, probably about three or four years old, comes and hands me three yellow dandelions and runs back to her mother. I don't know why, but I'll always remember it.
  That day I went home and cleaned my flat and made it tidier. I wouldn't say that my life changed miraculously, but I would say that this one moment of kindness, which probably neither the child nor the mother will remember, was one of the most memorable moments of my life. @AgeOfWomen / Reddit
• I was on my way to a Starbucks to get something to eat with a friend I met a few days ago. Suddenly a stranger about my age asked me how to get to the same place, so I told him I was going there too, and we started talking as we walked.
  When we got to the Starbucks, we sat at different tables and I waited for my friend. He didn't show up (because he had some problems and couldn't leave). I asked the stranger if I could eat with him and he accepted. Now we are friends and sometimes we talk on our mobile phones. @GrandJack23 / Reddit

“A lady handed me these outside of Piccadilly station. Thank you kind stranger!”

• I'm sitting at a red light with my wife and son. I'm directly behind a yellow school bus full of children. Some of the children were just being children, making faces out of the window at cars, etc. A small group of children were gathered at the back of the bus looking at us.
  Suddenly, one of the kids does the "Gangnam Style" part, crossing his wrists and moving his hands up and down. I do it right back to him, with a big grin on my face. Then I do the part where you put your arm up in the air and twirl it around while moving your head back and forth. By this time the whole bus was watching, and when the light turned green I could hear them roaring with laughter.
  Best red light ever. @erik316wttn / Reddit
• When I was a kid, we didn't have a lot of money, so we used to go to second-hand bookshops. What I loved about them was that you could get ten books for a dollar, so I'd stand in front of the book section and make a pile of what I wanted to get, and then decide when I'd gone through them all.
  One day an elderly lady saw me sitting with my piles and asked me if I liked to read. I told her I did and showed her some of the books I had found that I liked. She smiled, took a dollar out of her purse, gave it to me and said, "Promise me you'll keep reading." I was so happy that I stood up immediately and said that I would. She smiled and walked away, and I went back to my piles and was able to pick out another 10 books to take home.
  It was just a small act of kindness for her, but for me, having a random stranger encourage my love of reading and make me promise never to stop definitely had a lot to do with my continued love of reading. That was probably 22–23 years ago, but I still think of her every time I buy a new book. @-eDgAR- / Reddit

“As a woman who is generally unaware of her car, this was GREATLY appreciated. Thank you, kind stranger!”

The note says: "It looks like your transmission fluid has a bad leak. Recommend that you have the car towed to a mechanic. If you drive without fluid, it will wreck your transmission, costing a couple of thousand dollars. Bad luck. Sorry."

• I had been living and struggling in New York for three years when my dad was diagnosed with Parkinson's. I decided to move back down south to be closer and help out. It was a huge, scary, life-changing decision and I didn't know if I was making the right choice - I had been working in book publishing and trying to follow my dreams, but it just wasn't what I thought it would be.
  On one of my last nights in the city, I got into a taxi to meet someone for dinner. The eerily prophetic taxi driver just looked at me in the mirror and asked, "Are you leaving this town for good?" I told him I was, and he said, "Yes, you have met a lot of fancy animals with human faces."
  As I got out of the car and said goodbye, he said, "Well, we have met before, about 1,000 years ago, and I expect we will meet again." I think about this guy a lot. And yes, moving was the right thing to do! @levitatingpenguins / Reddit
• I have light hair (currently teal) and have moved from Orlando to a very small southern town. I get "the look" a lot, especially from older people. I was walking through the parking lot of an Ingles one day and an old lady (maybe 70ish) yelled at me, "Your hair matches your shorts! THAT'S SO CUTE!!!". It kind of made my day! @StreberinLiebe / Reddit
• I was about 15, and I was crying on a step in the town center because social anxiety was a real problem for me. After a while, a girl of about 20 stopped to ask me what was wrong. It took a lot, but I just opened up to her as she gently held me on her shoulder and wiped away my tears.
  As I smiled before we went our separate ways, she promised me that things would get better. I was skeptical at first, but I always remembered our words when I felt sad. I really think she may have saved me. Leah, thank you again. I really will never forget you! @jeff_the_nurse / Reddit

"Last table of a terrible shift. The kindness of strangers still takes me by surprise."

• I was on crutches at the time after an ankle injury. I got off the tram to go to university and hobbled straight into a surprise Melbourne spring storm. A guy with very limited English walked me from the tram stop to my class, holding an umbrella over me the whole way (about 10 minutes). One of those lovely, warm, fuzzy memories. @-partlycloudy- / Reddit
• One year I was on holiday in Spain with my family. We were staying in an apartment complex that had crane machines where you could win stuffed animals and prizes.
  So one day my sister and I were downstairs playing on the machines, but we hadn't won anything, and we were running out of money, and a man who was sweeping and mopping the floors came over and unlocked the machine and gave us both a Winnie-the-Pooh toy. It was one of the nicest things anyone had ever done, and I still remember it 20 years later. @doshninja / Reddit
• I was walking home from work one day and there were two young guys cleaning up behind the local cinema. One was singing a bit (I think it was a Disney song). His mate said to him, "She'll think you're a weirdo," so I joined in and sang the rest of the song with him as I walked down the street. Never let someone else tell your story. @kat_kin_ / Reddit

Kindness is like a boomerang: you throw it without expecting anything in return, but somehow it always comes back, sometimes in the form of a friendship, an unexpected opportunity or just a smile that makes your day. So next time you’re unsure if you should take that small step to make someone’s life easier, do it. You never know what an incredible story could come out of that.

And if you’ve been wanting to read more of the moments where kindness changed lives, you’ll surely enjoy this other article full of heartwarming stories. Because at the end of the day, in a world that sometimes seems too chaotic, a little kindness may be just what we need to feel closer to each other.