Woman Tracks Down Stranger With Purple Hair Who Hugged Her at Her Lowest Moment
The kindness of a stranger with purple hair was what got Angel Mott through one of the most difficult moments of her life — when she received a call, in the midst of Black Friday holiday shopping, informing her that her mother had died.
Mott, who was standing in a crowded Mills Fleet Farm store in Des Moines, Iowa, was overcome with grief. “I just kind of blacked out,” Mott told the Des Moines Register, “and I just started crying uncontrollably. And I sat down on the shelves probably for about five minutes and just bawled.”
A stream of strangers passed her by — except for one guardian angel, who stopped and asked the 31-year-old what was wrong, and, upon hearing the news, sat down and embraced her, staying with her long enough to shepherd her through the checkout line.
Mott, who was too stunned to even ask the stranger her name, drove off to the hospice residence where her late mother, Rose Danylchuck, 57, had been struggling with fallout from a blood clot in her head, which had caused debilitating strokes.
It was not long after that Mott thought of the stranger and wanted to thank her — but the only detail she could remember was that the woman had purple hair. So she turned — where else? — to Facebook, specifically the I Grew Up in Iowa! page, and posted a request for help on Nov. 29, explaining how she had received the call in the store and sat down to weep.
“Some nice lady with black hair (I think) and purple highlights sat down with me and hugged me for about five minutes. She cried with me,” she wrote. “I would just like to thank her very much. Not one person stopped to see if I was OK. But her and her sister did and I appreciate that more than they’ll ever know! My mom was my best friend. I felt like my heart was ripped out of my chest.”
Her answer came just a day later, from Sara Ross, who posted: “The lady you are looking for is my lovely sister Stephanie Uhlenberg. She just saw you sitting there crying and couldn’t just walk by. She had to make sure you were ok. Once she found out why you were crying her heart just went out to you. Doesn’t matter if a stranger or not no one needs to be alone when receiving news like that. Sometimes all one needs is to be held, so you know that everything will be alright, a silent hug is all that needs to be said. We are both so sorry for your loss, once we left you we cried a little together and then found our momma and gave her a hug. Hugs and prayers to you and your family during this difficult time.”
Uhlenberg — a mother of three whose hair is streaked purple to reflect her diehard loyalty to the Minnesota Vikings — decided, upon hearing that Mott was looking for her, to attend her mother’s visitation at a local funeral home.
“I watched as Uhlenberg walked into the lobby — easy to spot with her purple hair and Vikings coat,” observed Des Moines reporter Kyle Munson in his story of the reunion. “Once Mott recognized her, the two strangers-turned-friends wrapped each other in another big embrace. They shed happier tears. The family and other mourners looked on, probably feeling what I felt: It was reassuring to see such a warm, visible sign that the chance encounters and random acts of kindness we too often take for granted sometimes make a big difference. ‘My heart just went out to you,’ Uhlenberg said to Mott. ‘I just wanted to know if you were going to be OK.’”
Mott told her, “That hug meant the world to me. It made me feel like people actually still care.”
Uhlenberg also made many other people’s day with news of her empathetic reaction, drawing praise on her Facebook page from friends and strangers alike. “I’m sure all of this attention is super weird to you … especially with something as ‘small’ as a hug,” posted one fan, “but with all the hate in the media, it is so refreshing to see kindness between strangers. A small gesture to you proved to be a pivotal moment in that lady’s life, and made countless people in the world smile (and cry). Keep being awesome!”
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