Tuesday, January 11, 2011


My thank you this week goes to a man whom I met about 11 years ago when I first moved to Barre, Vermont. His name is Karl Boisvert. Don’t you just love his last name? It translates into English to mean Green Woods. Anyway, I digress, Karl is a tall (6’6”), thin man with a soft manner about him. He always has a kind word to say and is very friendly. He has a beautiful smelling store called Boisvert’s Shoe Repair where he sells leather goods and repairs shoes for just about the whole town as his father did before him and his son will after him.
I never knew that Karl watched my husband Louis and I any time we walked by his store or even entered it until 4 years ago. In a rare moment of disclosure he admitted that we were his heroes and that he aspired to be like Louis and I in his marriage in the way that we always hold hands as we walk anywhere and are never mean to each other. He admitted to telling everyone about us and what a romantic couple we were and how more people should be like us. After that day he would always compliment us on our relationship. What he didn’t know was that whenever he did so, it would make my husband and I even more conscientious about how we treat each other and how it made us want to be his heroes even more. He became our relationship cheerleader of sorts and I have always felt there should be more of those.
To tell you what kind of man he is, about three weeks ago he had surgery removing a cancerous tumor from his brain and is now going through chemotherapy for it. Sadly, his brother passed away from the same thing years ago. I saw him just last night at the Food Shelf preparing to help pack food for those in need in his selfless way. Most people would not have been there let alone been there three weeks after such a delicate surgery. So, I thank Karl for not only what he is to Louis and I but for what he is to the human race as a whole. There should be more Karls in this world so I ask you to please say a prayer for his swift recovery.

1 comment:

  1. Karl sounds fabulous! A walking-living-breathing example of humanity. Let's hope it's contagious!

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