A couple of years ago I witnessed a wonderful, spur-of-the-moment, out-of-the blue event - your thread has reminded me of it, Alan, so thank you ! I don't even know how it started, but I got into conversation, over a short bus ride across North London, with an elderly German lady, a holocaust survivor, who told me not only about the material facts of her experiences but also her emotions, now, about having lost so many of her family and friends all that time ago. As we talked, another elderly German voice behind us joined in with *her* story - and I left the bus with the two of them sharing experiences and feelings and, I like to hope, at the start of a new friendship for the two of them, which, without the initial conversation having been struck between me and the old lady, would never have happened.

People are aching to tell their stories. You can sense the relief in them as their tales unfold.

- jeanie