Several years ago I went to our local shopping centre and as I was about to get out of the car I noticed a woman sitting at a restaurant right next to my car.

I am not sure what it was that got my attention but I sat for a while just looking at her. She was on her own, smoking a cigarette and just looking out into middle distance. There was nothing showing outwardly but I just got a deep sense that she was bitterly unhappy.

The waiter brought her a pizza and a strawberry milkshake. She stubbed her cigarette out and started sipping on the milkshake. I got out of the car and walked into the shops to get a few things for the house. When I came back to the car, she was still there.

Climbing back into the car, I could not keep my eyes off her. There was something wrong but I had no idea what to do. For some really odd unexplainable reason I got the sense of someone eating their last meal. Now I have no idea to this day whether that was the case or not, but this was really starting to bug me.

Then I did something that I cannot explain to this day. I got out of the car, went back into the shops and just stood there. What the hell was I looking for? I saw they had some beautiful flowers so I bought the biggest and prettiest bunch I could find.

Now it was going to get awkward. What would I say to her? I remember walking back to the car with the bunch of flowers in my hands, desperately trying to think of something to say. I mean this is just bizarre. A woman walking up to a complete stranger and giving her flowers! I could just imagine the thought ‘what a freak’ going through her head.

As I got to her table, she looked up at me and I just stood there, like an absolute idiot. Then without thinking I handed her the flowers and said “Look I know this is strange, but I just wanted you to know that it does get better”. She took them from me without saying a word, with a slightly shocked expression on her face. I turned around and got back into my car as fast as I could. I was so embarrassed I hid my face while trying to start the car. As I reversed out, I saw her looking at me and there were tears streaming down her face.

I will never know what was going on with her, but maybe, just possibly, I made a difference to her life that day.

Di