A woman named Angel Mott, 31 years old, was out in a shopping mall when she received a call she wasn’t ready to receive. It was from a nurse who delivered the devastating news: “My dear, your mother has passed away.”
It was a typical Black Friday morning, the shopping day after Thanksgiving, stampeding into the store, leaving no way for anyone else.
But hearing the news, Angel didn’t know how to process it, except by sitting down in the middle of the store with tears flowing down her cheeks.
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But then something unexpected happened.
While Angel couldn’t take hold of herself, a stranger walked up to her at 6:25 a.m., sat down, and hugged her tight until Angel regained composure to get back on her feet.
She didn’t know the reason behind Angel crying, but regardless, she refused to leave.
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This mystery woman brought Angel so much comfort during the worst moment of her life, in the middle of a store, that a few days later Angel started looking for her on the internet.
“I didn’t even know her name. I just knew she was in her 30s, short black hair streaked with purple.”
So, like anyone else would do, she turned to a public Facebook group and posted a paragraph in a community of 63,000 members titled ‘I grew up in Iowa.’
“Hoping you nice people can help me find a lady,” she wrote in the post after explaining what happened.
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Her post led to reposts by community members until it finally reached the mystery woman, whose name was Stephanie Uhglenberg.
Once Stephanie realized that Angel was looking for her all over social media, she was compelled to visit her again for her mother’s funeral.
Angel gave her a big hug as soon as she spotted the purple-hair mystery woman walking toward her in the lobby. Two strangers wrapped each other and embraced the grief.
While Angel may have lost her closest family member, her mother, this moment led her to find her family: Stephanie.
Moments like these are reminders that chance encounters can often lead to new beginnings, which we may fail to see coming.
“That one hug at the store meant the world to me. It made me feel like people actually care,” revealed Angel.
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