A Neighbor is Gone

There are reasons I live in Des Moines and the people are a large part of it. So when a neighborhood guy like Ed Boesen decides to take his own life it is a shock to the entire community. The Boesen family owns one of the largest family-run florist in the country and are an integral part of the Beaverdale neighborhood where they were all born and raised. The family, and Ed in particular, has given so much back to the community they love that his absence will be evident for many years. Ed lived around the corner and his brother Frank lives two doors down from me.

Ed married his high school sweetheart - she a cheerleader and he the football player. He also left four children, six siblings and his mother.

All suicides raise the same questions of why and Ed's case is no different. He always seemed like the happy-go-lucky kind of guy but we all know now that there were deeper issues we could not see. 43 years old is entirely too young.

R.I.P Ed