A Random Act of Kindness in Providence Has a Rhode Island Family Searching for a Stranger

A Random Act of Kindness in Providence Has a Rhode Island Family Searching for a Stranger

A Rhode Island family is looking to thank a stranger they met at the Providence Performing Arts Center this past weekend.

Jessica Chaffee and her husband Peter, who live in Barrington, took their two young children to see “Frozen” at PPAC — and left with a life-changing story. 

They say they chatted with a man and his friend in seats next to theirs and discovered they had quite a few things in common. 

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And at the at the end of the show, the stranger gave their young son a gift, and quietly walked away with his friend. 

“I don’t know if he wants to be anonymous or not, but our hope is to pay it forward somehow,” Jessica Chaffee told GoLocal in an interview. “We plan on doing something for others.”

 

A Family Tradition -- and Connection

For Jessica Chaffee, a Warwick native, going to shows at PPAC is something she remembers fondly when she was a little girl. 

“I grew up going quite a bit for “girls days” — Annie, the Nutcracker, you name it,” she said. 

So now that her two children are 4 and 6, Chaffee and her husband like to take them to performances. 

“We go to PPAC, we go to the Vets; we like to give them that type of exposure,” she said.

So when Frozen came to town, the child-friendly show was a no-brainer — and the kids were on their best behavior. 

“At intermission, because we were close up to the stage, we sort of stayed in our seats, and let everyone get out of the way first,” she said.

It was then she and her husband started chatting with the man named “Steven” — along with his friend. 

And according to Chaffee, that was a connection from the start. 

“It’s my dad’s name, my brother’s name, my nephew’s name, my husband’s father’s name, his brother’s name,” laughed Chaffee, who said there were even more family members that shared the name. 

As they were talking, she noticed her son Noah peeking from behind the seat, looking at the man’s watch. 

“He’s super into watches right now,” she said of her son, who is now four.

Chaffee said the man noticed Noah looking at his watch. He took it off, and let him hold it, and showed him how to wind it, she said. 

“My son was enthralled. He was super careful with it, and he handed it back when intermission was over,” she said.

When the show ended, the man turned to Noah, and handed him the watch — and told him he wanted him to have it. 

“We could see on his face that this was something sentimental,” she said. “We said, ‘Oh no, you don’t have to do that, really’ — and he and his friend walked out. His friend sort of patted him on the back, like he knew this meant something to this man.”

“My son said, ‘Mommy, I can really keep this?” said Chaffee. “My husband and I stressed how this was a very special gift, and he has to take super good care of it. He keeps it now in the drawer in his bedside table, and takes it out carefully, and makes sure to put it back away.”

“We don’t know what the emotion was that was attached to it,” said Chaffee, of wanting to properly thank the stranger she met. “We just want to show him that we’re thankful and we see him for what he was feeling and going out of his way for this little guy.”