While sitting down for an interview with The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg, Simone Ledward Boseman reflected on the inspiring life of her husband, Chadwick Boseman. Simone, still grieving the loss of her husband two years after he died from colon cancer at age 43, reminisced about the first moment she met the Black Panther actor. 

The couple met shortly after Chadwick played James Brown in the 2014 biographical drama Get On Up. Chadwick attended a James Brown tribute concert at the Hollywood Bowl after starring in the movie, where Simone was also working.

Simone said she kept it professional when the two crossed paths at the event because she was at work. But Chadwick had his own plans when he saw the young woman.

“We were on the side of the stage at a certain point, and I guess he didn’t know if I was really catching his hints. And he just kind of randomly just bent down and untied one of my shoelaces … as a little joke,” Simone told Goldberg. “And I said, ‘Oh, OK, so this is flirting — this is him flirting with me.’ And then he got back down and said, ‘Oh, I’m sorry.’ He got back down, and he retied my shoelace.”

Simone described Chadwick as “thoughtful” and “intentional.”

“He did not go into anything with his eyes closed,” she said. “And I knew that I could follow him off the edge of a cliff because he’s got a plan, you know?”

She added that “he was just the smartest, most caring, most genuine, most just real, authentic, truth in everything.”

“Like nobody I’ve ever met,” Simone said.

The couple was determined to keep Chadwick’s health condition private after he was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016. 

“There was always some level of concern,” Simone said. “But we really do have a very, very trusted circle of people that were there to support him, and support me, and help us, you know, do the best that we could with the challenging time.”

Simone said Chadwick would “never let you see him sweat” despite the challenge he was facing. 

“The hardest thing was wondering if he was going to have enough time to do all the work that he wanted to do because he was very clear on what he needed to do,” she said. “He knew how many people depended on him for his advice — he was the person everybody went to, and I’m sure that was exhausting for him.”

When the coronavirus forced everybody to stay home, the couple took advantage of the opportunity to spend more time together. 

“As much as that [was] just such an awful time in the world, it seemed like, ‘Is this a crazy coincidence that we get to actually be inside?’ We get to be here with family … together,” Simone said.

Despite the heartbreaking loss, Simone said, “I can’t believe I was so lucky.”

“I can’t believe that I got to love this person and I also got them to love me too,” she said. “He was an artist and he was a leader and he was a king. And that I got to be by his side for that — that he chose me to be by his side for that is just — it’s the greatest blessing. Even with the pain of his loss, now I still get to have this beautiful spirit relationship with him. And that, while it’s difficult to accept, is also beautiful because he’s an ancestor now. He is and he is never leaving me.”