A Remedy in Aisle 9: Romance

VITAMINS, ASPIRIN, LOVE: Newlyweds Chantah Bou and Jerry Pinsky share their wedding cake in aisle 9 of Walgreens on Plain Street in Lowell yesterday. They met there, by the vitamin shelves, in January 2007. Behind Pinsky, second from right, is WCAP radio announcer Sam Poulten. SUN / BILL BRIDGEFORD

PHARMACY FANTASY: Chantah Bou hands out cake to customers and employees after she and Jerry Pinsky exchanged vows in Walgreens in Lowell. Their relationship began in aisle 9. SUN PHOTOS / BILL BRIDGEFORD

By Rita Savard
03/22/2008

LOWELL -- Number 9.

For Jerry Pinsky and Chantah Bou, it's magic. A beginning, a middle and forever.
It's where fate led them.

It was January 2007 when Chantah entered Walgreens on Plain Street. She was looking for vitamins in aisle 9.

Jerry doesn't remember what he was looking for. All he knows is what he found.

"One A Day, One A Day," Chantah said. "Why do you Americans have all these One A Days?"

Jerry looked at the dizzying array of plastic bottles stretching left to right, ceiling to floor.
Everything from A to Zinc. Chantah had a good point. He laughed and asked her what she needed.

Turns out she didn't need vitamins at all. Jerry recommended a pain reliever to cure Chantah's back pain.

"Not wanting to miss an opportunity, I gave her my card," he said. "She was charming and beautiful. All I wanted was to see her again."

A week later, Chantah called. The pain reliever worked and she wanted to thank Jerry for his help. He asked if he could take her out.

She agreed, but only if her friend could come. So they went to the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, and then dinner. Chantah, Jerry and the "chaperone."

After the first date, the chaperone was dropped. It was just Chantah and Jerry from there on.
They talked about the paths in life that brought them to aisle 9.

When Chantah was 5, the Khmer Rough stormed her home city of Phnom Penh in Cambodia. Her aunts and uncles disappeared, massacred in the Killing Fields.

She spent two weeks on the move. Away from gunfire and screams.

"Hold onto my shirt tail or I'll lose you," her father warned. "If I lose you, I might never find you again."

So Chantah held on tight to her father and ran. For two weeks, her parents and grandfather moved south until they reached the Vietnam border. Her grandfather convinced the soldiers that they were Vietnamese. They were allowed into a refugee camp and survived the genocide.

"She came away with serious ideas about what life should be," Jerry said.

Jerry, of Lowell, is a psychotherapist and clinical social worker. He works with veterans at the VA Hospital in Bedford. Family and friends say Jerry has a gift. He knows how to listen. How to be a genuine friend. How to heal broken hearts.

"His life has been about helping people find meaning and identity in their lives," said cousin Marc Konicov. "Now he's found romance. It makes sense. It's his turn."

But Jerry said there was a lot of distance to cover before he could ask Chantah to be his wife.
They come from two different sides of the planet. They had a language barrier. And they're 30 years apart in age. She's 41, he's 71.

"How does a miracle come from that?" Jerry asked.

Yesterday, going back to where it all began, Jerry got the answer to his question.

"I never see a man like this," said Chantah, also of Lowell, as they celebrated their marriage in aisle 9. Earlier in the day, they exchanged vows in a ceremony at City Hall.

Sometimes words aren't necessary. As Walgreens customers and employees looked on, she extended her hand and placed it over his heart.

"Sralange" she said, which means "love" in Khmer, is the only thing that matters.

In front of the dizzying array of One A Days, a three-tier cake topped with fresh white roses waited.

Jerry wore a black top hat and a permanent smile. Chantah walked to him as well-wishers sang an off-key version of Here Comes the Bride. Shoppers paused with their purchases to watch "something different" taking place.

Chris Krebs, Jerry's colleague and friend, said age shouldn't matter.

"Opportunities for love don't always happen for some people, and for others, they don't come up often," Krebs said. "He's courageous for seizing his opportunity."

The couple cut the cake. Chantah fed Jerry a bite.

"It means a lot to us to celebrate this special day here, in the very place we met," Jerry said. "I guess it's proof you can get anything you want at Walgreens."