HOW LUCKY CAN A GUY BE?!

In a week I turn 76.5 years old! As I look around, I note how many of my friends have passed away.

• Jack & Pauline Swedis
• Dick Daoust
• Rod Bryar
• Mike Lee
• Ronnie Stackow
• John Hirbour
• Frank Tencza

Last night I received a phone call from Doerun, Georgia. An auctioneer named Jerry Maurice Barfield, a Southern Baptist . Maurice is one of my few friends who lives and prospers today. I haven't seen Old Barfield in 20 years or so.

Having been to his farm  several of times I have gotten a taste of South Georgia. More importantly Maurice and I are kindred spirits. When Johnny Cash died we spoke about the attributes of The Man in Black. I was flattered when Mr. Barfield said "POTVIN, you kinda remind me of him!"

In reflection I look at the wonderful upbringing my folks, Joe and Rita Potvin gave me. My folks were humble. Harold Kenneway, once owner of the Sturbridge Auto Museum said of my dad "Bob, your father impressed me by not trying to impress me!" I broke down upon hearing this!

My autobiography 'One Lucky Soldier' recounts my time as a soldier in Vietnam (1967-1968.) I witnessed poverty amongst the peasant Vietnamese and how terrible some soldiers treated the" gooks." Then I had compassion for these poor people as I do now..

Earlier on, as a 20 year old I took a Greyhound Bus to Saint Louis. Once more I witnessed the slums nearby my alma mater. Poor whites and blacks gave me an education not found in text books. My 2.5 years as a Billiken further revealed how terrible poverty really is. I worked a year  at Lou Marcus' Tobacco & Liquor Store. There I befriended the derelicts of St. Louis.

Fast forward to 1998 I returned to Vietnam for 9 days. I befriended ANH who peddled me around Ho Chi Minh City taking in the many sights. My exposure to abject poverty told me how life really was for millions.

In 2001 I lived in the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans. for 16 months I had "three hots and a cot." My life's journey continued. I escaped to St. Albans, Vermont after 16 months in Boston. The only jobs I got in Beantown  & St. Albans were that of being a Janitor. My education and life's experiences got me nothing.

In Vermont more janitor jobs and a

Saint Louis U. 1818

Uncle Johnny

dj

Potvin klan  2019

1959

Ben & Alli

new beginning.

Then BAM, I was stricken with MDS..low blood counts.. bone marrow disease.. Heidi & Josh to the rescue! Mass General doctors and by the grace of God and 2 years in the Chelsea Soldiers Home gave me a new lease on my life. Then one day SonJosh brought me back to The Brookfields to live. A second chance. 14 years later I live and prosper.

In good health I really have a life. I have friends and acquaintances. Life is good. Yet down deep inside I feel I know the truths about "folks on the poor side of town. And you wonder  why I'm the man in black?!"

ROBERT LOUIS POTVIN

ANH

Joe & Rita