Hey Pandas, What Is One Moment In Your Life That You Will Never Forget?

My wife dying in bed next to me a few months ago. I don't think it will ever leave me.

She started coughing - later realised this was an auto response from the body after the heart had stopped, causing fluid in the lungs - and didn't stop for about 30 seconds. Then when she did her eyes stayed open and she wasn't breathing.

Unlocked front door, called ambulance, got her on the floor, did all the CPR (I'm trained in it) medics arrive within minutes, but there was nothing to be done. Defib announced 'no shock necessary' which I know means there is no heart activity at all.

She had been diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy some years ago, probably had it from birth. It's not unusual with that for the heart to simply stop with no warning. And once it's stopped it's stopped completely.

I worked an ambulance some years ago and had a call where four 20 somethings went into a ravine in their car. When we arrived, the firemen were sending one up that they thought was a corpse. we noticed she was breathing so we did our thing. One year later after a dozen surgeries and months of rehab I met her and her mother at a Starbucks. some years later she told me that she had a baby. The beat goes on...

The moment I received a call while at work from a the Hospital. A friend of mine had attempted to unalive himself, by jumping off a building. I immediately left work and went straight to the hospital. Now you might ask why they called me and not his family. Well turns out they did call his mother first, but she lived in another state so it would have been like a 9 - 12 hour drive, or a 1 hour flight, which she could not afford. They also called his sister, but she ignored the multiple calls and voicemail they left. I was his first, and ONLY visitor for a full week before his mother finally showed up. He survived and was lucky that he is still able to walk.

Seems we mostly remember bad things that happened to us. I’m going with my best happy memory. Mine is the day my husband proposed to me. We’ve known each other since we were twelve and we got married at age 24. He has two beautiful children from his previous relationship, and this February our daughter gave birth to our first grandchild, Alonzo Lamar. I feel so incredibly blessed to have such an amazing family!

My identical twin sister passing away in my arms from cancer. I miss you with all my heart, sis.

Most of the things I remember most vividly are mistakes I made that still cause me to cringe every time they come around to the front of my consciousness.

Lets add a lighter note. I took a roadtrip at 18 where we drove in an old Ford station wagon, listening to Goethes Erben while around the world was dark and snowed in. We had the best mongolian buffet somewhere near Landshut and ended at a nightclub at the austrian border that hosted goth night, but when the lights came on at 3 it was palm murals, turcoise and beach feeling😆. we drove home and at 8 I sat in my first lesson at school.it was soooo surreal

3 years old and I remember it like it was yesterday. I was hit by a logging truck. Nothing happened to me except gravel rash on my left arm up to my elbow.
I even remember what I was wearing and where I was living at the time.
I also think of that poor man that drove that truck and how his heart must have stopped.

Back in 1997, the ambulance service I worked decided to start fundraising to get an air ambulance. I had just qualified as a paramedic and realised how impactful an air ambulance service could be, especially for the rural parts of the county that were over an hour by land away from the nearest hospital - not something that you really want in a life-threatening situation. I got involved in fundraising, and made such an impact that when they brought the helicopter they were planning to use to do a tour of the area I was offered a flight in it. I can still remember the noise and the smell of that old Bolkow BO105 and how excited I was to get a flight in it, even if it was only for 10 minutes. That made my mind up that I wanted to work on the air ambulance, and a few years later in 2001 I was successful in getting accepted as an air ambulance paramedic until I moved services in 2004. Best few years of my career!

I have another one, much more positive.

When out for a walk around my apartment building I found a briefcase with strewn papers and photos. So I gathered them. The next morning I looked though them to find the owner. There was a certified check for a caterer.

So I called the caterer and asked them to reach out to the person on the check to come pick it up. The woman was so happy that it had been found. Apparently, the caterer would not provide without payment and they could not come up with supplementary funds.

I am grateful that the wedding went off ok with the caterer being paid.

It is one in a lifetime moment.

The sound my cousin made when her child's S.Ab*ser got off scott free. She held it together until the courtroom cleared out. That will haunt me forever. Thankfully her child wasn't in the building.

When I was 8 years old I got prescription glasses. It literally changed the way I see the world. It was the first time I saw individual leaves on a tree! I was no longer bumping my shoulder on door jambs. Mentally I felt safer because I could actually see what was going on. Thank you 4th grade teacher for noticing me squinting to read the blackboard.

In the early 2000s, I was away from home, working for two weeks in our offices in London. One day, I stayed alone late working — it was around 7:30 — when I felt someone come in. I thought it was just the cleaning guy, but I only realized it wasn’t when he was suddenly right next to me: a man in a hoodie covering his face, holding a big kitchen knife. He said, “Don’t scream, and don’t look at me… I’m not gonna hurt you, luv.” I honestly thought it was the end.

He tied me up with computer cables and took me to the office kitchen. Thank God, they only wanted to steal the equipment and left without hurting me. More than the fear of dying right there, what really struck me was the sadness and loneliness of thinking my life might end that way — in a country that wasn’t mine, far from the people I loved.

And I’ll never forget the inspector who interviewed me the next morning. His name was Inspector McGyver, and he had green eyes that matched exactly with the tie he was wearing.

I had two ferrets, one was dying from age and we knew, we thought she would die the next day but she didn't.. at first I thought that..
my mom and dad were in the car with my sister which is unusual because my mom worked late..
then I hear the words "she died when you were at school.."
..
I cried typing this btw lol
but anyways so basically while I was having a good day at school, they checked on her and she was dead,..

A moment I’ll never forget is one where everything seemed to pause and etch itself into memory — the kind of experience that shifts how you see the world. For some, it’s a personal milestone like graduating, hearing “I love you” for the first time, or holding a newborn. For others, it’s an unexpected moment: an act of kindness from a stranger, a near miss that made them value life more, or a breathtaking scene in nature that felt almost unreal. These moments stand out not because they’re perfect, but because they change us, stay vivid in our minds, and remind us what truly matters.

Seeing my mom in a respite centre for the very last time. She was dying of cancer, but she refused to allow me to visit as she didn't want me to see her in such a state. She was getting a bit odd to talk to, but I managed to get her to agree to let me visit on Wednesday. I used to be a Care Assistant in nursing homes, so my eyes went straight to the mouth swabs and her hair brushed back in a way that she would never ever have done. I knew what was up. But the strangest thing was... she was not there. It was a mom shaped body, just about, but there was no mom inside it. She had already gone.
And on Friday evening, the body finally went as well.

I regret not saying goodbye, and I regret not spending more time with her towards the end, but... I guess she didn't want me to worry or something. Spent so much effort in pretending that everything was okay, no big deal, and I went along with it because I knew it would upset her otherwise. But most of all, I never got to tell her that I am really glad, and happy, that *she* was my mom.
She knew, but it's like "I love you". Doesn't matter how much they know, sometimes you just gotta say it again anyway.

The day my son was born. I loved him from the first second. I cried. When he was 1 year and 10 months old, I divorced from his mother. She was no good. Since then, it's the 2 of us. He is 17 now. Now I have some time to myself.

Sad one: the eyes of my little dog saying it was ok, she had enough. Tootsie, the Toots, you’re missed immensely
Happy one: the afternoon I spent digging in an archeological site. Found ceramic from 4000 years ago. Incredible. Thanks a million to my friend Igor and Cristina and all the crew.

The realization of a lifelong dream to visit Ireland. I'm from the US and the moment I stepped out of Dublin Airport and hailed a taxi...I couldn't stop grinning the whole ride. I made it. I was in IRELAND. Poor cabbie probably thought I was crazy.

Spending a week in Death Valley on a geology class field trip to get one more credit before I transferred schools and didn't want to have to take another science class.

It was amazing. We took a van and drove all up and down the valley. Park department gave us a private tour of Scotty's Castle. When the tent blew down, I slept on the picnic table. Manley Beacon and Devil's Golf Course we super cool. So was Badwater and the view of Telescope Peak. I have a lot of great photos.

Plus, driving down from Oregon we stopped at Mono Lake. Incredible sunrise.