Koko Boodakian & Sons: I dream of Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair

This past Friday night, at the reception following the Cole Porter Review at Emmanuel Church in Boston, Marash Girl had the opportunity to chat with Michael Boodakian, the son of Koko Boodakian. (Koko Boodakian was a household word in our home full of oriental rugs.) Michael & Marash Girl reminisced about the old days . . . who had the bees?  Was it Peter or Paul?  Did you know arthritis can be cured by bee stings (see WBUR & CURT'S PHOTOS, HONEY BEES & EGYPTIAN HONEY ).   Who had the garden?  Peter!  Your father! He was such a great guy.  I remember his coming to do electrical work for us at Boodakian & Sons Oriental Rugs in Winchester (Massachusetts) and while he was working, Peter was singing, always singing, "I dream of Jennie with the light brown hair!" (See I Dream of Jennie with the Light Brown Hair.)

Michael continued:  "Just before he passed away, I remember picking Peter up at his house; Irene (his caregiver) was with him.  I took them both to the Men's Club at the St. James Armenian Apostolic Church in Watertown.  Peter had such a good time, laughing and joking with the men there; he was such a great guy!  So full of fun!  Always full of fun."
Michael, being Ainteptsi, was a distant relative of Marash Girl's mother, "Jennie with the Light Brown Hair".  He recalled a trip to Los Angeles when he visited with Uncle George Vartanian (Jennie's brother), and Jennie's cousins Uncles Jake (Jakie) and Johnnie Bosnian (Auntie Flora and Uncle Yacob's sons -- Uncle Yacob being Marash Girl's Grandmother Yester Bosnian Vartanian's brother, all from Aintep).  Oh, to bring those days back!!!  But as Peter would say, "Those days are gone . . . forever!"