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VA student visits RI after an outpouring of kindness from our readers: Here's the story

David Ng
The Providence Journal

Ask most 9-year-olds where in the world they would most like to visit as a reward for a good school year, and the answer might be something akin to a trip to Disney World. But Meera Chand wanted her magic kingdom to be the city of Providence. 

"I love it here. Everyone is so friendly," Meera said. 

Meera, who lives near McLean, Virginia, wrote to The Providence Journal in March,  a neatly typewritten note tucked in a stamped business envelope,  requesting that we publish a letter to the editor asking our readers to help her learn about Rhode Island. It was part of a project for her class at the Langley School to learn about each of the nation's 50 states. 

The outpouring of affection from The Providence Journal's readers proved worthy of a Hallmark movie.

Providence Journal Executive Editor David Ng meets 9-year-old Meera Chand and her mom, Monisha Kapila, during their recent three-day visit to Rhode Island from their home in Virginia.

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In all, about 170 Rhode Islanders wrote letters, some with personal family stories,  boxed-up books, photographs, T-shirts, sweatshirts and baseball caps, cans of clam chowder, bottles of coffee syrup, and Del's Lemonade mix, and had their contributions delivered to Meera at Langley. 

Of her approximately 50 classmates, Meera by far received the most contributions to the class project, although she had been assigned the smallest state in the union. 

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Final footnote: A trip to RI 

There was one last assignment needed for a final footnote: a visit to Rhode Island to learn what makes Rhode Islanders tick, and why they would be so friendly and so generous in their time and words for a young girl they had never met. 

Meera and her mother, Monisha Kapila, flew into Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport last Sunday for a three-day whirlwind visit to Newport and Providence, which, of course, included a visit to The Providence Journal. 

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Journal photographer Kris Craig and I met Meera and her mom in the lobby of the Omni Providence Hotel right behind The Journal. With a smile that could melt M&Ms, a choir-like voice and chocolate-brown eyes, she was a petite angel in a Newport hoodie sweatshirt that was two sizes too big for her, and it was a small. 

We granted Meera her first wish, a tour of the Journal building. 

Journal Executive Editor David Ng greets Meera and her mom in the lobby of the Omni Providence Hotel.

A piece of history in Journal newsroom

What's that?

In the corner of our lobby at The Journal's newsroom, there is a silver cylinder in a sealed glass case. I explained that it was the Providence Journal time capsule that was filled with artifacts when The Journal marked its 175th anniversary in 2004. It will be opened upon our 200th anniversary on July 21, 2029. 

"Oh, I want to be here for that," said Meera. 

In the perfect bookend of the past-meets-future timeline, Kris told Meera that he was present when the time capsule was sealed and locked in that case, but he couldn't remember what was stored away as history's keepsakes. If fate is kind, on that day in 2029, perhaps Meera can photograph Kris in front of the time capsule. 

During a tour of the newsroom, sans reporters and editors because of the pandemic, I showed her four of the Journal's most prized possessions, our Pulitzer Prize awards. Standing on a red stepladder, I showed Meera and pointed out a bit of a mystery that has befuddled me. 

On a newsroom tour, Executive Editor David Ng shows Meera and her mom the citations for the four Pulitzer Prizes won by The Providence Journal.

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In the opening citations on the Pulitzer plaques appear words to this effect, "To all persons present, let it be known that The Providence Journal" has been honored for its work. Those hallowed words open the tribute in the prizes The Journal won in 1945, 1953 and 1994.

Then I asked Meera to read the citation for our 1974 Pulitzer, and a puzzled look came over her face. Wait, something here doesn't make sense, she said, as she stumbled reading this particular citation.

Meera got it. 

For some reason, the words "all persons" were replaced with the words "all men." It would be just a fleeting moment for Meera, but her visit to Providence now included a mini history lesson in gender equality. 

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What's for dinner?

I had one final promise to keep for Meera: dinner. She had one requirement: Had to be Rhode Island staples. 

At Murphy's pub across the street from our newsroom, we placed an order for fish and chips, stuffed quahogs and clam chowder. Meera's mom, realizing the nutritional value of my dinner recommendation, added a vegetable to Meera's plate.

Broccoli.

Meera washed down dinner with a Yacht Club orange soda, served in an imperial pint glass bearing the Guinness harp.  

Meera and her mom sample some Rhode Island fare at Murphy's pub in Providence.

Over dinner, in a time capsule composed over French fries, Meera recollected pieces of her three-day visit and stored them in the memories of a precocious 9-year-old visiting Providence for the first time. 

What did she like most? "The history. There's so much of it here. I really liked the architectural history."

What do you want to do when you grow up?  "I don't know, but I'm good in math. Maybe I'll make lots of money." 

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What was your favorite contribution from The Providence Journal readers? "It was when an entire class wrote back to me." 

College? "Maybe I'll go to school here." (Meera was going to visit the Brown University campus before returning home.) 

After a stroll through downtown Providence, I walked Meera and her mom back to their hotel. The gift of a coffee mug and chocolate pretzels was waiting for me, along with a promise that I will always be welcomed in Virginia. 

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Since March, when I first read Meera's letter and wrote some columns about her, it has been a lesson in the preciousness of a child's hopes, the kindness and generosity of strangers, and the worth of sharing stories and making new friends.

Meera and her mom thanked me, us, for all that we have done for them. 

No, I said. Thank you for all you have done for me, and for us. 

David Ng is executive editor of The Providence Journal. Email him at dng@providencejournal.com.