“You Make People Feel Seen”: 25 Touching Observations

We see, meet and talk to people daily about various things, though not every interaction is memorable. But amongst the routine small talk, some unforgettable past conversations may stick with you to this day. While harsh words are the hardest to forget, today we delve into the nicest things people have heard about themselves. 

#1

Image source: No_Vanco_No_Problem, Marina Abrosimova/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

“I’m not letting you do this alone. I’m coming with you.” – My girlfriend and soon to be fiancé when I had to put down my elderly cat three days before Christmas.

We went to the vet and she watched me bawl, we both cried our eyes out, and even still after that she let me grieve at home for an hour. She brought me a coffee, and everything to make sugar cookies from the store. She came back and she said she couldn’t fix it, but she didn’t want me to be alone.

So we played Christmas music, made terribly ugly cookies, and we weren’t okay; but we were together.

That’s when I saw what real, unconditional love looked like.

#2

Image source: -braquo-, Getty Images/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

I work in a homeless shelter in a very red state. I’d just got done checking in a new person I’d just met. We were talking afterward and they told me that they were trans but not out. Later, I asked what made them feel like they could tell me that since it’s a very red state, at a shelter ran by evangelicals. They said “I don’t know. Something about you. I just knew you were safe.” That’s the greatest compliment I’ve ever received.

#3

Image source: That_Cat7243, Roberto Nickson/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

I worked the front desk at a yoga studio/spa for a while. I loved it; interacting with all of the people that would come in gave me life. I didn’t realize how extroverted I actually was until I started working there. I got to know all the regulars, remembering everyone’s name and trying to make them all feel warm, welcome, and special. One day, one of the older regulars came in and handed me an envelope. He had typed me a letter that brought me to absolute tears, talking about how big my light was and how truly transformative my weekly welcome to him had been, as a person who had rarely felt welcome anywhere his whole life. At the time, I was struggling with a lot of my own darkness and the fact that I had any ounce of light was genuinely news to me. My heart needed that.

#4

Image source: Ok_Background5197, Marcelo Leal/Unplash (not the actual photo)

A friend who was dying of chronic kidney failure said to me his last night alive “if there is a way to look out for you from the other side, I will” I still think about that all the time.

#5

Image source: heavenIsAfunkyMoose, Alex McCarthy/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

Last year, my (56M) daughter (13F) told me that she thinks if I were her age we’d be best friends.

#6

Image source: cocoboco101, Getty Images/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

My father in law has had 5 surgeries in the last 2 years and it has been a long recovery and because of that I have been doing my best to help out by doing their yard work, loading up his wheel chair, etc. just stuff you do for family.

Well just one day out of the blue my mother in law texted me and just said “You’re our hero.” and that has stuck with me.

#7

Image source: yoteachcaniborrowpen, Isabela Kronemberger/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

One of my students wrote me a letter on graduation that said he was severely depressed (and I suspect suicidal though he didn’t say it), and my talk with him about why he failed my exam changed his life, because no one had ever told him he was brilliant before. We later worked on research together and he said it was the best time in his life.

We’re still in touch, he’s working on a masters and plans to get a PhD.

I’m so humbled by him, and proud of him.

#8

Image source: bmikeb98, Getty Images/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

When I was a teenager, I was sent to military school. I’d always been a bit rough around the edges—kind of a troublemaker—but never a bad person at heart. I never finished high school because of some family issues, and later in life, I found out I had bipolar disorder type 2 and ADHD. I didn’t even realize it at the time, but my dad told me that my younger sister had been diagnosed with the same conditions, and he thought I should get evaluated too. He said she reminded him so much of me, and he wanted me to know because, being the old-school guy he is, he never really talked about emotions or apologized much.

Then he told me:
“Hey man, I’m sorry.
I didn’t know.
I thought you needed discipline.
You just needed my help.”

I didn’t think much of it at first, but when I was alone later, I broke down and cried for a few minutes. I didn’t even realize how much I’d been carrying all my life until that moment. It was a relief I can’t really describe, like a weight was finally lifted off my shoulders. I felt lighter, like I physically weighed less.

#9

Image source: Bubblystrings, Levi Meir Clancy/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

This is stupid, but I stopped relaxing my hair like 17 years ago, at a time when you’d catch grief from all sides for doing so. Everyone is telling you that you’re only pretty/acceptable/presentable when your hair has been chemically straightened, and your job is telling you that your natural hair is “unprofessional” (I was enlisted). One day I was rocking a straight lion’s mane at this gas station in some small-town pocket of Arkansas, the kind where I could have been the only black woman within an hour of any direction. This burly, tatted up Hell’s Angel’s looking biker dude walked past me and very genuinely said, ‘damn sister, I like your hair!’ and I really appreciated it. Didn’t expect it coming from him, is all, especially since it was coming from nowhere else.

#10

Image source: Time_Teaching6500, Nini FromParis/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

Someone once told me, “You make people feel seen.” It hit me because it’s easy to go through life unnoticed, but knowing I could make someone feel valued—it stuck with me.

#11

Image source: ReefahWithKieffah, Getty Images/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

One night while in the newborn trenches with my son, I was struggling and crying. Just really emotional. I can’t remember exactly what I said, something about feeling ugly, and my husband who I had been with 10 years at that point told me “I have never been more attracted to you, watching you be a mom to our son is beautiful, you are beautiful “ and it plays in my head still on hard days.

#12

Image source: Setinca, Gabriel Ponton/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

“I think you’re going to be the reason a lot of people find hope again.”.

#13

Image source: nosy_maggi7745, Curated Lifestyle/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

My grandpa, on his deathbed, whispered, ‘You were my favorite’.

#14

Image source: ThroatFew300, Getty Images/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

My mom told me l was her lottery win in life.

#15

Image source: anon, Lala Azizli/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

A couple of weeks ago, I was alone in a city i didn’t know, and I had my heart broken in a cafe. The waiter saw that i was upset and asked if I was ok I WEPT, she sat with me and talked to me while I had my coffees and I ordered something to eat. I went to pay and found out she had paid for all of it ( cried again ) it was nice to have someone to sit with.

#16

Image source: tomjohn29, Yunus Tuğ/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

I was out with my kids at a restaurant on some daddy day care vibe.
Wife needed a break.
Kids were 1 and 3
We were just having fun like we normally do
Im running around feeding my daughter and son is helping.
Older lady comes up to the table and says “She needed a break huh”
I laughed and said yes
She put her hand on my shoulder and said “thank you “
I said for what
She said for reminding her what happiness looks like
That f****d me up.

#17

Image source: Rough3Years, Rainier Ridao/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

I’m a Filipina and there was an elderly man in Miami with whom I struck up a conversation.

He was gazing at my face and he said: So this is what your people look like. It’s like all the world combined.

#18

Image source: Lonely-ex-cult-girl, Daniel Martinez/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

The boys in high school rated us girls and I was a 7/10. It’s always affected me. About 6 years later it came up at my work place for whatever reason and I said I was a 7. A sweetheart of a guy instantly, without missing a beat said, “Out of 7 though right?!”

I went to the bathroom and cried. He has no idea how much he healed me with those words! 🥲 .

#19

Image source: rizzmah, AllGo – An App For Plus Size People/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

My boyfriend once asked me to help him understand a certain topic, and it was a busy time for both of us, i had long hours of school and so did he. I could only teach him a very little portion which wasnt even countable in a span of 2 hours. I apologised to him saying i couldnt help him(he had a test on it the next day). He said “You tell what’s better? A person giving the 1K out of the 1K they had to someone in need, or a person who gives 1K out of the 1Mil they have?” i said i dont know since i didnt understand what he meant. he said “it’s the former since the person gave away all they had, and in the same way, you had 2 free hours which you could have used to sleep(we were sleep deprived), but you chose to help me. and that’s all that matters to me” and it’s the best thing i’ve ever heard.

#20

Image source: james_james1, Ani Kolleshi/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

I’m a mental health nurse. I was with my brother in a mall one time when an ex-patient walked up to me and greeted me warmly. We chatted about how his life was going. He seemed to be doing well. He said to me, “Hey do you remember that time when you had to restrain me and put me in seclusion? You were really gentle with me and got everyone to calm down and go easy on me”. He turned to my brother and said “Your brother is one of the good ones”.

#21

Image source: thepcfacer, Getty Images/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

“Wow he’s a human angel!” I fostered a puppy who was given up for adoption because she was apparently a bad dog. I took her in and just treated her like she was my own dog. She was adopted two weeks later and the pet adoption agency was shocked at her (positive) change of behavior.

#22

Image source: GotchUrarse, Getty Images/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

After a year of dating, my GF (we’re both in our 50’s, both lost our spouses to cancer a few years ago) said ‘I love you!’. I never thought I’d hear that again.

#23

Image source: saranghaemagpie, Mathilde Langevin/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

“I want my daughter to grow up and be like you.”

I was living/teaching Emirates in the UAE. My class, all men. So for a man in a patriarchal society to say that to an independent, unmarried, educated, western woman was a wow moment. I felt like I contributed to women around the world being seen, respected, and valued. 😊.

#24

Image source: miolarara, Im euisook/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

It was a small thing:

I gave the lunch I had brought with me one winter weekday to a destitute man huddled near the locked front doors of a church. (I’d gone there to practice for a forthcoming organ recital.)

He simply said, “Thank you – I haven’t had any food for about 3 days.”

It seemed as though he was as starved for someone – anyone – to care about him as for the food itself.

#25

Image source: Substantial_Sock_135, TopSphere Media/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

My good friend told me a few weeks before he succumbed to cancer that he was glad he knew me because i was “One of lifes good guys”

That was 6 years ago now and i still think about it.