The kindness of strangers: Lost and separated on the Paris Métro after 40 years of marriage

CBC Radio One's The Early Edition is asking listeners to share their stories of kindness from strangers for a series that runs on Thursday mornings.

This week's story comes from Marion O'Byrne, of Vancouver, who was separated from her husband on the Paris Métro and was able to rendezvous with him after strangers came to their rescue.

Dear strangers,

It was our 40th wedding anniversary and my husband Ken and I were so excited to celebrate together in Paris — until we lost each other.

We had just arrived at the Paris Airport and decided to take public transportation to our hotel. It seemed pretty straightforward: you take the fast train into Paris, do one station change, and then ride the Métro eight stops. 

We successfully changed at the station but then, three stops in, a few employees in yellow jackets boarded and cleared the train. 

I don't really speak much French but one of the young men beckoned me over to a map of the Métro and showed me the new route we needed to take: change lines here, go one stop, change again and then three stops — easy enough. 

My mistake was I presumed my husband was observing all this. And that's when our plans fell apart. 

The station where we needed to change trains doesn't have any elevators or escalators, so we were struggling to carry our luggage up and down the stairs. 

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I'm carrying on ahead with one medium-sized suitcase and my husband's following with a larger suitcase. I hop onto the train — and the doors start to shut behind me. 

These doors aren't as forgiving as the ones we have here in B.C. and they shut on his arm as he tried to squeeze in 

Some people on the platform drag him back as the train pulls away, with me on one side of the glass and my husband left behind. 

Now, I think he's going to follow me on the next train and get off at the following station. 

But Ken stays there, assuming I'll come back for him. 

Three trains pass by with no sign of my husband. 

At this point, I don't know what to do. If I go back for him, he might have decided to follow and we'll miss each other. 

Our family is split 50-50 on whose fault the whole fiasco was but, since then, we've learned some lessons: we always set a meeting place when we go into crowds. 

I started asking people for help, in my broken French. 

You two strangers came to my aid. 

One of you, the first woman to come to offer help, went upstairs to see if anyone could call back to the station where my husband was and tell him where I was. 

A second woman, with a young infant, noticed my distress and came over. 

You came back downstairs and the two of you conversed in French, coming up with a plan: one of you would go back to the station to get my husband and the other would stay with me.

Both of you had phones, making it easier to communicate

I was stunned at your kindness. 

Off you set and, about 10 minutes later, reappeared with my husband in tow. 

He stepped off the train and you remained on board, pleasantly waving goodbye at us. 

We never had a chance to thank you for your kindness. 

Yours, 

Marion O'Byrne

If you have a story about the kindness of strangers, email The Early Edition at earlyed@cbc.ca