Hovsep Jibiryan

 “I am a bricklayer! I am a carpenter! I am a shoemaker! I am a driver! I am a tailor! I am a welder! I am good at all these things!” boasts Hovsep. At 79 Hovsep is still a hard worker. Using his skills, he sits through the night sewing the performance costumes for The Chosen Ones. Through the all-night sewing sessions he pours out his philosophy about marriage and finding the right woman. Hovsep has much experience in the matter: he’s had two wives, both of which he’s lost and now is single. He prefers it that way though. He says convincingly, “Lots of candidates! No courage! I better wash my own clothes, cook my own meals and live happily off of my pension”. Words like these mask the fear of forming a bond to another loved one whom he could lose; could he bear another loss? He states that he is against the idea of marriage but through his new found friendships he has made in the troupe he seeks the comfort of a companion again and confesses that he needs someone next to him. Someone whom he could “love with his heart” and “hold in his arms.”