"I'll never see you again....but"

I was just writing down my glimmers (the opposite of triggers, little things that boost your mental health and make you feel good) and was really trying to drill down into the small things that make me happy, make me smile, give me a boost that maybe I don’t really think about.
There are the obvious things: music, a long soak in the bath, music. But I wanted to go deeper than that. And one thing really stood out for me. 
“Interactions with strangers who I’ll never see again”.
Immediately after writing that I could think of at least 4 people this year that I had that experience with.

• 2 Chelsea pensioners when I visited the Houses of Parliament with work.
• An old lady who sat on a table with us in the Summer.
• A couple we met on holiday.

At first I’d written “speaking to strangers” then I realised that actually, just small interactions can make a big impact too. One of the Chelsea Pensioners, for example, just made me laugh by being a bit cheeky when I was taking photos of them. I didn’t realise he’d spotted me holding my phone up, but he did and rather than smiling and being sensible he moved his hat to the side, and just messed around. We didn’t talk to each other, but we smiled and laughed from a distance and it was enough for that to impact my day and for me to remember him. 

Another Chelsea Pensioner asked me about my tattoos, and started to show me his and tell me about his until he was whisked away by his chaperone (he was in a wheelchair) but he carried on talking to me as he was wheeled away.

The couple we met on the last day of our holiday, where my fiancé talked to the gentleman about carpentry and I talked to the lady about a variety of topics, bonding initially over her reading a book by my favourite author, which actually resulted in her going to her room and getting me the book she had read on holiday (by a different author) to give to me. 

The lady who sat on a table with us lives locally, and I don’t know if I would recognise her if I saw her again, but just having a conversation with her, talking about where I work, where she lived when she was little, talking about Somerset and Wales, and other little things was heartwarming. My fiancé joked with me just before we left that he knew exactly what I would say to her “It was lovely to meet you”. 
He was right. And I also asked if I could give her a hug. 

I didn’t realise how often I do say to people “It was lovely to meet you”. However I don’t just throw it around. I say it only when I mean it and when someone really made a difference to my day. 
These people may not even remember me, which is completely ok, I wouldn’t expect the people who have impacted me in some way to have the same experience, however it’s nice to think that maybe they did. But the sweetest (and maybe in a way saddest) thing is that they may not know the impact they made.

That the interaction with them became a highlight of my year. Made me feel happy. That they became one of my memories.
I only have a small circle of friends, which I am perfectly ok with, and the fact I am perfectly ok with that may be because the interactions I have with strangers gives me that boost, that happiness, with no pressure or expectations. 

And what a lovely thought it is that I may be that person for someone else too.