Strangers Who Stay With Us

Sometimes the people we remember most…
 are the ones we barely knew.

A quick conversation in a grocery store.
 A shared laugh in passing.
 A moment of unexpected connection.

In this episode, I’m sharing a couple of simple, everyday encounters that stayed with me —
 not because they were extraordinary,
 but because they were human.

Because even the briefest connection
 can remind us that we’re not invisible.

🎧 Strangers Who Stay With Us
Now streaming wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Transcript

Hi… I’m Mary.
 And this is Being Mary — where we talk about growing older, staying curious, and living fully in the chapter we’re in.

Have you ever noticed that there are people we meet for just minutes — sometimes seconds — who somehow stay with us.

Not because of anything extraordinary…
 But because of how they made us feel.

I’ve been thinking about a couple of those moments lately.

And I have a couple of grocery store interactions I want to tell you about. 

One day, I was standing in the produce section, staring at lettuce like it was going to give me life advice.  I was actually looking for the lettuce that was grown in Canada.

A produce worker noticed and asked if I needed help.  Apparently lettuce grown here in Canada doesn’t stay on the shelf long. 

Anyways, We ended up chatting about world and local affairs.  Don’t ask me how we got on to this kind of conversation, it just happened.  She also shared that she has a mother who may have to move in with her and she has a daughter she adores.  
 This conversation felt warm. Easy. Human.

And I remember walking away thinking, that interaction mattered more than the lettuce.

And then there was Another day at the grocery store.  After doing some searching I found pumpernickel bread and now I was looking for pumpernickel dip.  I figured that surely I could find it already made in a container. 

I asked an older woman shopper if she knew where I could find it.

She told me she made her own and how easy it was — and then offered to send me the recipe.  

She asked if I had a cell phone.

Now this made me smile inside, because she was older than me — and clearly tech-savvy.

But She also told me I could find the recipe on Pinterest.

So I said, thanks  “I’ll just Google it.”

As I walked through the store, I actually found the dip already made — which, let’s be honest, is much more my style.

Later, I ran into this woman near the checkout.

And instead of just smiling and moving on, I approached her and told her I found the dip — but that maybe next time I’d try Pinterest and make my own.  She smiled. 

(But honestly, we all know I won’t try to make my own. Let’s be real.)

We laughed.
 I thanked her.
 And we both walked away smiling.

That was it.
 No exchange of numbers.
 No long conversation.

Just two strangers crossing paths — and somehow, it stuck.

Those are the moments I don’t want to rush through anymore.

Because you never know when a small interaction might be someone’s only connection that day.

And maybe sometimes… it’s ours too.

So here’s what I’m learning:

You don’t need to fix anyone.
 You don’t need the perfect words.
 You just need to show up — briefly, kindly, honestly.

Because even strangers can remind us that we’re not invisible.

And somehow that matters more than we realize.

This is Being Mary…

and remember, the best chapters are still ahead.