Editor’s Note: This story is part of an occasional series, “The Stranger I’ll Never Forget,” which celebrates those kind souls who touch our lives for only a moment but leave a lasting impression. Read the first story in the series here.

CNN
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It’s spring, and the air is filled with the melodies of mating songbirds.

But when I walk down a tidy street near my suburban Virginia home, the jarring memory of another sound echoes in my mind: my daughter’s piercing screams.

Those desperate cries jolted me out of a daydream as I pushed her stroller down this very sidewalk back in December 2022. My…