My daughter lives about 3 hours away. Earlier this week she called and said she was coming home for the weekend. SWMBO suggested that we get tickets to touring-version the musical Chicago. Since the show was practically sold out, the best seats I could find were in the upper balcony, 5 rows from the back of a 2500 seat theater.
About 15 minutes before the show started a woman and her son, maybe 18, came up to us and asked "Are you a party of 3?" I answered yes and she said "We have 3 extra tickets for seats that are little closer. Would you like to join us?"
A little confused, I said sure as we grabbed our coats and began to follow them. As we were heading down the balcony stairs she turned to me and said "The tickets were for my son and his friends. He passed away a few months ago and his friends didn't want to come." I expressed my condolences and asked her why she chose us. "No real reason, we were just looking for a party of three that we thought might like an upgrade."
And what an upgrade it was! We assumed that since we were in the upper balcony, we were moving down to the lower balcony or at best, the loge. Nope, we left the balcony area, went down the stairs into the orchestra and kept on walking. We started 5 rows from the back of the theater and ended up 5 rows from the stage!
We chatted with the family during intermission and they were really nice and easy-going. I asked the Mom if her son had a favorite charity or group he supported and she told me that he was a Sea Cadet and donated his own money to a group that supports veterans and first responders.
I told her that I was going to pass it forward and send them a donation. During our conversation I gathered just enough information to find the obituary of the young man that had passed away. Apparently the kindness that the mom and brother showed us ran strong in their family. The young man was deeply involved in his school and community and was loved and respected by many.
What a cool night!