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There have been countless times when an older woman came to my aid, no matter how small the issue, and whenever I look back at those moments, my heart just sings. I personally love hearing "women supporting women" stories, so when I asked the women of the BuzzFeed Community to share with me a time when an older woman had their back, I was totally enamored. Here are some of the most wholesome and powerful stories:
1. "I was flying home from college. I'd arrived pretty early to the gate, so I started chatting with another woman there. Then our flight got canceled. I guess the woman I was speaking with had a lot of status, because she walked into the airline club, told the person working there that I was her friend, and basically demanded that I get on the earliest flight back to my city so that I could be home. I still think about her and how she looked out for me, and I hope to pay it forward whenever I can."
2. "I was at a company dinner, and one of the higher-ups (a woman with children) asked me about when I would be having children. I'm younger and not interested in having children, so I tried to kind of push the question off. Well, this woman kept prying and prying. Noticing that I was becoming uncomfortable, another middle-aged woman in the company chimed in and explained that she's been quite content despite not having children herself. She then gave me a wide smile and started discussing something else. I was so grateful for her acknowledgment and support."
—Anonymous
3. "When I was at my close friend's house getting ready for prom, my friend's mom came in to give my friend and her best friend corsages. I didn't even really know that was a thing unless given by a boy you were going to the dance with, but I still thought that they looked very pretty. Then my friend's mom went over to me and gave me a corsage too. She knew that my mom and I were in a tight financial situation at the time, but she still went out of her way to make sure I had flowers."
4. "My auntie taught me how to use tampons. I am completely blind, but I'd wanted to learn how to use them forever — but I was scared of the whole process. When it came to learning how to take it out, I was so scared to pull the string because I was afraid it would break off. My auntie talked me through it and showed me that it was fine. She is my hero."
5. "This is a maudlin story, but here we go: I was widowed quite young. My husband was killed seven months into our marriage; we had lived together for several years. It was unexpected and tragic, and I was obviously completely freaked out. Anyway, when a loved one dies, you gotta do what you gotta do, so I found myself at a funeral home with my mother-in-law making burial arrangements. I'd tried to psychologically prepare myself for the questions, but I wasn't expecting it when the funeral person asked me if I wanted to buy a double plot. You know, for my eventual death."
6. "I'd just gotten my hair cut and dyed into a tall blue mohawk. I then went to Walmart to get some supplies. I live in the South, so I should've known better. I received a bunch of stares and dirty looks from the pearl-clutching older women. I was feeling crappy and insecure, but then a lovely older lady walked up to me and loudly said, 'I love your hair! That color blue is amazing.' I really needed that confidence booster."
7. "One Christmas, my eldest was in the church play. My husband had taken him earlier, and I was going to bring our toddler and meet them right before the show. I was carrying my child on my hip, and as soon as I stepped into the foyer, my toddler Exorcist-vomited all over the both of us and her doll. It was epically bad. I was covered in vomit from the neck of my sweater to the top of my boot. I went straight to the bathroom to try to clean us both up. While several women gaped in horror, my friend, a mother of five grown children, stepped in without a thought. She not only helped us get clean enough to get back in the car, but she tried — unsuccessfully — to save the doll. She even went so far as to look for my husband in the crowded auditorium to relay what had happened, since his phone was off for the upcoming performance. Ten years later, I'm still friends with her. She is always putting others before herself!"
8. "I was 17 and working at a supermarket. There was a much older guy who worked there too, and he was the grocery/stock manager. He was always getting way too close and touchy with the younger girls, and he always asked super-creepy and invasive questions. Everyone in the store knew about him and his behavior, but it was just a waiting game for him to mess with the wrong person and get fired. That person was named Beth. Beth was the deli manager, and she and I were tight — we'd helped each other out of a lot of spots. One day, I was in the small scanning office with our creepy coworker, and he was being his usual self."
"Normally, I'd just shut him down or leave the room, but he had me cornered and was asking me inappropriate questions about my dating life and stuff. The next thing I knew, I heard Beth yelling, 'Um, hello?! What are you doing?! Back the FUCK up!' She got in his face and pushed me out of there. The next day, the guy got fired and Beth got a raise."
9. "I have a chronic pain disorder that most prominently manifests as back pain. Last week at the airport, I was struggling to carry my backpack. This older woman then offered to carry it for me, and she carried it like it was nothing until the queue ended. That woman literally had my back by saving me from back pain."
10. "I had to go to court to get a restraining order against my abusive ex. I live in a different state from my friends and family, so I was all alone. I didn't even have a lawyer with me. It was the first time I'd seen my ex since he hit me with a whiskey bottle. I managed to hold myself together during court, but as soon as I made it outside the courthouse, I could barely stand up. I was shaking and crying so much. An incredibly sweet woman in a wheelchair was waiting to be picked up, and she asked me if I was okay. I told her that I wasn't, and she then asked if I needed a hug. She held me for maybe 10 minutes as I sobbed, and she told me over and over again that I was so strong. Six years later, I am still eternally grateful to that woman."
11. "I was a new mother venturing out for the first time with my daughter. I went to Sam's Club and bought wipes, diapers, etc. I was nervous the whole time because my daughter was so little, and this was the first time I was out in public with her alone. All went well until we got to the checkout counter. I was trying to load the big boxes of bulk items when my baby suddenly had a diarrhea blowout — the kind that goes over the top of the diaper and soaks through the clothes. I needed to pick her up, but at that point, most of my shopping cart was already on the counter and ready to get scanned. In my new 'mom brain,' I had no idea what to do except tear up. A very nice older woman then came, picked my baby up, and helped me manage the rest of the transaction. This was back in 2000, when there was no self-checkout, so there was a line forming behind me. I hope that sweet soul who helped me knows just how much she helped me!"
12. "When I went to the clinic for the first time after I found out I was pregnant, it was just my boyfriend and me. My mom was mad at me for getting pregnant at such a young age, so even though I'd asked her to come with me, she refused. I was feeling pretty emotional, and nothing my boyfriend was saying was making me feel like less of a failure. I was pretty close to bawling in the middle of the clinic, but then an older woman who was working behind the desk saw I was struggling. She came over and gave me a hug, then told me that I was going to do great. To that woman, wherever you are, thank you. My baby girl is healthy and almost 7 months old now."
13. "It was my senior year of high school, and I was 18. I was on an overnight school trip for a team tournament, and I was experiencing the first waves of what I now know to be the start of my depression and anxiety symptoms. I was in a hotel room with a team mom chaperone, and I was feeling especially low. I knew her as a generally nice lady, but nothing more. She sat with me on the couch and asked if I'd ever seen the movie FernGully. I said I had. She then told me, 'You're going to grow up and be like the fairies in FernGully, and you're going to leave behind flowers wherever you go.' I'd never had an adult say something like that to me before, especially one who wasn't actively involved in my life, like a parent or a teacher. It's been 17 years, and I still remember how valued it made me feel. I try to live up to the idea of 'creating flowers' wherever I am."
14. "I went to the bathroom at a department store, and when I came out, a woman working at the perfume counter started calling me over to her. When I got there, she said, 'Miss, you have toilet paper hanging from your pants.' When I looked behind me, I saw that I indeed had a tail of toilet paper that I'd just been dragging around the store with me. I was so grateful that she told me, so I obviously thanked her. All she said was, 'We ladies have to take care of one another.' So true!"
—Anonymous
15. "I'd just moved to Boston. COVID-19 precautions were winding down, but outdoor seating was still everywhere. I bought a couple of macarons and was seated at an outdoor table enjoying them. A woman then came out from a nearby restaurant and told me that I couldn't sit there — that no one was allowed to sit at the tables until 5 p.m. I guess I'd sat there for a second with my mouth open in surprise, because she then started yelling, 'I said get up! Now! Can you understand me?' I'm Asian, for context. An older white woman, probably in her 70s, who was reading at a nearby table, then asked the woman, 'Why didn't you say that to me?' Flummoxed, the server turned to the older woman and said, 'She can't sit here.'"
16. "I was at a friend's house with a group of friends and acquaintances during the summer, having drinks and hanging out around the firepit. It was starting to get late, so I decided to head back to my house. (I'd stopped drinking and was fine to drive.) I'd been at this particular house and in the neighborhood many times, but there were some shady people roaming around. When I announced I was leaving, a wife of one of my acquaintances said she'd walk me to my car. Afterward, she gave me her cellphone number and told me to text her once I got home. I've never had somebody look out for me like that who wasn't directly related to me or my best friend."
17. "I was 15 and had just gotten dumped by my first boyfriend through text at another friend's sweet 16 party. I was devastated, so two of my friends invited me over to one of their houses after the party to cheer me up. We were young and immature, so 'cheering me up' turned into calling the boys they had a crush on and giggling with each other while I sat nearby, obviously hurting. My friend's mom noticed and sat down with me before my dad came to pick me up. She told me that the breakup would hurt for a bit, but then I would feel better day by day. She then said that I'll eventually not think about the boy who broke my heart at all. She was right, of course, and although it was a small act of kindness, I still think about it all the time — how she could see my hurt and tried to make me feel better. Thank you for being a mom figure to me that day in 2010."
18. "A few years ago, I graduated with a teaching degree and got my first job at a school. College did NOT do a good job of preparing me for what matters day-to-day, and while lesson planning and all that good stuff was hard, school politics were even harder. A colleague of mine took me under her wing, and honestly, I don't know what I would've done without her. When I decided to go back to school to get another degree and the school didn't want to let me out of my contract, she told me exactly how to handle the situation. She told me what to do, what not to do, and, sadly, she even told me who not to trust. There was absolutely nothing in it for her — she really just wanted me to be happy, and I appreciate it so much."
—Ann, 30, Germany
19. "I was the main character in my school's eighth-grade play. There was drama going on between the other two main characters and me — they'd both been my best friends, but our friendship fell apart and I was very hurt by it. In the middle of a pretty important scene, I forgot my last line, and my former friends gave me the wrong cue. I ended up skipping the entirety of the scene. After the show, as soon as we were done taking our bows, I ran to the bathroom and sobbed. It turned out that my English teacher was in the stall next to me, and I heard her tell another woman, 'There's a girl crying, so I've been praying for her' (I went to a small Christian school). They asked for my name, prayed for me, then asked me to get out of the stall."
20. "I'm a military spouse. When I was pregnant with my second child, my husband was sent on temporary duty across the country for several months. I had a dog, along with a child under 2, and I was trying to keep up with everything. My friend, who's about 12 years older than I am and had teenagers at the time, came by to drop something off. She noticed that my usually well-kept yard was overrun with giant weeds, and I told her that I was struggling with the mower while pregnant. The next thing I knew, her husband and teenage son showed up at my door to tell me that they were going to weed, mow, and edge the front and backyard for me. My friend had gone to work, but she also had her teenager daughter come by and watch my eldest so that I could have a break. I'm still friends with her; I love her and her entire family so much."
—Anonymous
21. "One instance in particular that stands out to me is from 2018. I was at a Walmart near a small city's hospital buying sheets for a med bed. My mother had just been placed in at-home hospice, and we needed to get the bedroom prepared before they discharged her. I was despondent, weary, and hyperfocused on my task while at self-checkout. Then I saw this petite older woman staring at me with what looked like a disgust. (I'm a Black woman in Waxahachie, Texas, so IYKYK.) The woman stormed up to me and said, 'YOU'RE TALL.' I braced myself for whatever the hell was about to come next, but then she continued, in a commanding voice, 'Stand proud in it! It's beautiful.'"
22. Last but not least: "I left an abusive relationship last year after a decade spent with a selfish partner who was 18 years older than me. Two of my neighbors — both older women — stood by my mom's and my side while I packed my things. My ex-fiancé was screaming at me the whole time, and he'd even threatened the male movers. Then another older woman who lived nearby came to check on me. She assured me that, after all this was over, I would be okay. All three women who came by my side happened to be survivors of toxic relationships and abuse. For them to have my back was one of the most powerful demonstrations of feminine protectiveness that I'd ever experienced in my life, and I will never forget it. Life is so much better on the other side, and I owe everything to my fellow women for getting me through that horrendous time."
OK, raise your hand if you cried a little, because I certainly did. Do you have a story about an older woman having your back or coming to your defense? Tell me all about it down below in the comments, or you can submit anonymously using this Google form!
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.