Hidden Brain Staff

A favorite from 2022: After a mortifying fall in physics class, Julie remembers the unexpected gift she received from a fellow student.

A few days after her sister passed away, a stranger on the subway asked Maureen how she was doing. The conversation that followed is one that she will forever cherish.

As a college freshman, Karen was sometimes inconsiderate to her hallmate, Pam. So when Karen missed the bus to her choir performance, an hour away, she was surprised — and moved — when Pam came to her rescue.

Eric and his husband, Dennis Hopkins, lived a life full of music, gardening, and dance. But in 2022, Dennis was diagnosed with lung cancer. A few days before he died, they met a nurse named Sherry, who offered a compassionate roadmap of what was to come.

The last place Brad saw his mom before she died was at a diner in New York. A few years later, when he went back to that diner, the bartender asked if he remembered their table, and invited him to go sit there.

In 2019, Darren was about to become a first-time father, and he was terrified. Then a doctor came into the delivery room and said something that completely changed his perspective on parenthood.