The trip to Montreal had been planned for months. It was an early weekend in August when Marblehead residents Maddie Miller and Ben Farrar were scheduled to depart. The five-hour journey across the border to visit mutual friends was a send-off of sorts, a farewell to friends who were moving from Montreal. The diligent planning had been completed, with every detail neatly falling into place — until unrelenting rainstorms wreaked havoc on the Northeast, flooding Ben’s sole means of transportation. His van wasn’t just any van — it was a handicap accessible van.
Maddie was never known to shy away from obstacles. Over the next few days, she logged countless calls to van rental companies across New England, determined not to let historic rainfall stymie their plans. But on the morning of their scheduled departure, after exhausting all reasonable options, Maddie’s optimism began to fade.
When Marblehead resident Gia Fiorello arrived at the Miller family home to walk their dog Bear, she found a distressed Maddie in the kitchen.
“Maddie told me what happened to Ben’s van, and while I had never rented that kind of van, I immediately thought of someone who might be willing to rent theirs,” Gia recalled.
Local Marblehead teacher Jennifer Chavez had been living with ALS for 18 months. She was known in the community not only for her stellar reputation as a Latin teacher for over 15 years, but for being an innate giver. When Gia reached out to Jennifer and her husband Robert to share Maddie’s dilemma, and to inquire about a potential rental of their handicap accessible van, the pair sprang into action.
Within two hours, Maddie and Ben had the keys to the Chavez’s Dodge Caravan.
“I had never met these people and there was Robert, standing in the driveway handing me the keys to their van — for an international trip,” Maddie recalled. There was no rental fee, only well wishes for Ben and Maddie on their voyage across the U.S. border.
“Jennifer wanted to do what she could to help them take their trip,” Gia said. “She immediately said ‘yes’ because she knew from experience how difficult it can be to get out of the house, or to take a trip while in a wheelchair.”
On Sept. 25, less than six weeks later, Jennifer lost her battle to ALS. While her intelligence and spirituality guided her, it was her immeasurable love for her family, her children, poetry, the arts, and travel that defined her.
An obituary in The Boston Globe noted how lucky Jennifer felt to have been so well loved, and that her kindness and compassion were boundless.
“Jennifer would never hesitate to step in and help someone who needed it,” it read.
Jennifer Chavez was a gift to all, even to those who never met her.
To Maddie and Ben, she will forever be remembered as The Giver.
Leslie Martini is a freelance writer and children’s book author. Though she and her family have lived in Marblehead for more than 26 years, Leslie is still discovering countless untold stories. If you’d like to share your story, please contact leslie@marbleheadweeklynews.com.
