Always talk to strangers

‘In a wood on the Cotswold

Way, I spotted a woman standing close to a tree, clearly hoping not to be noticed. I said hi, and asked if she was okay. She said yes, and then, “No, I’m crying”. She told me she came to the wood because she and her partner used to walk there, and he’d recently died. We stood and talked about loss and grief, and how you try to manage. Two complete strangers in a wood, talking about the most intimate feelings. We exchanged first names, then we hugged, and parted.’ Elizabeth Bower