A mother in Dollard-des-Ormeaux (DDO), in Montreal’s West Island, is doing her best to put a smile on someone else’s face by offering two tickets to Monday night’s Ariana Grande concert at the Bell Centre.
Julia Hristeva had bought two tickets off a resale ticket website in the hopes of taking her 12-year-old daughter, Holy, to the concert.
When her younger daughter, Emma, 7, said she also wanted to go, Hristeva decided to buy another three tickets so they could all sit together.
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She still had her two original tickets and was trying to decide what to do with them.
“A few days ago, I remembered about them and really wanted to do a random act of kindness because I know it’s contagious,” she told Global News.
“I know I need the money, but I won’t sell them for the amount I paid.”
Rather than reselling the two extra tickets, the mother of three said she wanted to do something nice.
“I know that the kids from poor families have the same dreams as all other kids,” she told Global News.
“If you love Ariana and have the money, you probably already have tickets, right? I did not want to give them to someone that will sell them.”
Hristeva posted the announcement on Facebook Sunday night.
The only requirement: that the family truly be unable to afford tickets — and be honest about it.
Within a few hours, a Montreal woman wrote to tell Hristeva of her 14-year-old niece who could not afford to go.
“[She said] that her niece loves Ariana and her parents have a tight budget,” said Hristeva.
“I also have nieces that are in Europe and I know I would do anything to make them happy.”
Hristeva said she e-mailed the tickets to the family, and hopes to see them at the concert.
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The Bulgarian native said she was inspired by her 16-year-old son, Erik, who was raising money for a school trip and sold his iPod at half price.
“Just because her mother told him that he will make a little girl very happy,” Hristeva said.
“This just melted my heart. I am so proud of my boy. One random act of kindness should have a domino effect.”
“He was so excited when telling me that the girl was screaming in the car when she came with her mother to pick up the iPod.”
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Hristeva said she’s excited to go to the concert — the first she’ll be taking her daughters to — and is even happier that she was able to put a smile on a young girl’s face.
“It is always good when you give with your heart and not regret about it,” she told Global News.
“If you see two crazy gals and a crazier mother screaming there, that’s us.”
rachel.lau@globalnews.ca
Follow @rachel_lau
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