Fishy Welcome Sign

Photo by Marash Girl

The lighthouse featured in this "fishy" welcome sign (above) prompted Marash Girl to photograph the east wall of Steamers, 311 Watertown St, Nonantum (Newton), Massachusetts.  Steamers sells the freshest of fish, fish that can be purchased (fresh) and prepared at home, purchased freshly cooked and carried home to serve, or, even more fun, fish that can be selected onsite, prepared onsite, and served onsite (along with side dishes) at the few tables perched next to the shop's two large windows.  [Owner and fishmonger Domenic Vincenzino starts each day with an early morning trip to Boston's fish pier, acquiring daily only the freshest of fish for his loyal customers.] Whoops!  Did Marash Girl get carried away with the freshness of the fish and use the word "fresh"  just once too often in this paragraph?

God welcome you into His Kingdom, Rev. Billy Graham

Billy Graham, a household word on Lowell Avenue, has gone to be with his Lord and Savior.  Our prayers are with his family and all of us who benefitted from his wisdom and message of salvation.

The First Day

Unlike the father cited in yesterday's blog, Marash Girl's father always encouraged his children with the following words:

"Today is the first day of the rest of your life!"

No matter what mistakes they had made, no matter what how discouraged they may have felt, those words encouraged his children to continue to strive, to continue to thrive!

How he had learned this lesson, where he had heard these words?  Were the  words a translation from the Armenian?  Were they words his Yankee teachers had taught him in Watertown?  Marash Girl will never know, but what she does know is the truth of the words.  Read them and feel encouraged:

"Today is the first day of the rest of your life!"

THE LAST INHABITANT

THE LAST INHABITANT.  Okay, so the title was depressing enough, but Marash Girl didn't believe her friend when her friend told Marash Girl that the film was going to be a real downer.  Marash Girl loves film, and couldn't accept the suggestion that the film would be over the top (or rather under the bottom) in the realm of depressing.  Well, it was!  And to make things worse, her friend -- the friend who invited Marash Girl to this depressing film -- admitted at the end of the film that her father had always advised her that "each day that you live, you are one day closer to your death."  Granted, Marash Girl's friend's father had survived the Armenian Genocide and that certainly could have colored his views on life and death. . . but still . . . to say that to his young daughter?  Really?

Djannum!

"Djannum,"  Marash Girl's dad would say as he hugged her.  "Djannum," her grandmother would say as she put both arms around Marash Girl.

What does djannum mean?  The words mean, "My soul!"  What does that mean when one person says "Djannum" to another?  More than words can tell.  How can someone mean more to a person than his/her own soul.  And that's what all her dear departed (the ones who were born in Marash) would call Marash Girl as they hugged and kissed her.

No-one has called Marash Girl "Djannum" for decades . . . decades.  She misses them, she misses their hugs, she misses their words of love, she misses being called "Djannum".

Remembering Our First Automatic Dishwasher

Remembering Our First Automatic Dishwasher  . . .  and no, I'm not remembering my grandma or my mommy.  I'm remembering the very first time my mother was gifted an automatic electric dishwasher by my father.  And smarty pants Marash Girl said, and I quote, "What do you need an automatic dishwasher for?  It's so much fun to wash dishes!"  Well, needless to say, Marash Girl is "eating her words" every day, and apologizing aloud to her mom who is in heaven . . .Who said dishwashing is fun?  Young Marash Girl? What a fool!

Happy Birthday, Lorig!

My Valentine to the family was the gift of love from the Lord above when Lorig was born!

This Year's Gathering of the Union of Marash Armenians Honors President Nevart Kouyoumjian

Several hundred Marashtsi Armenians gathered yesterday in Belmont, Massachusetts, to honor Mrs. Nevart Kouyoumjian, longtime President of the Union of Marash Armenians, Watertown Chapter.
Nevart: "I wondered why there were so many people here today!"(FYI, it was a miserable, cold, rainy Sunday afternoon, and clearly, Nevart had no idea that she was being honored.)
The featured speaker, Sherriff Peter Koutoujian, began, "I'm the only Hye Sheriff there is!  How can I say, 'No!' to Nevart when she calls me and begins, "Hokis, goukas?"

The gathered further celebrated by singing Yerevan - Erepouni, the first several stanzas of which Marash Girl has taken the liberty of printing below:

Yerevan tarts adz, im Erepouni;
Tou mer nor Tevin,mer no Ani.
Mer pokrig high, you meds yerazank,
Mer tare guard, mer kare nazan.

Yerevan tars adz, im Erepouni,
tarer es antes, pays menatsel es badin.
Ko Massis horror, ko Arax morov.
Medians tarot, Yerevan!

Men aryan gantcher, ounenk mer serum.
Angular drencher, ounenk ter shad
Mer gantchn grants key, i your ge gortchi,
Grants kez, mer dak dentchn el ge sartchi.

Gyankoum amen ser linoume drapear,
Msg men colors enk kennov april.
Dak e sere mer, she karerit bes,
Hin e sere mer, tsk tarerit bes.

Lyrics: Paruyr Sevak; Music: Edgar Hovhannisyan

l. to r.  Sheriff of Middlesex County Peter Koutoujian honors Mrs. Nevart Kouyoumjian

Honored Guest, President Nevart Kouyoumjian

Honored guests congratulate Mrs. Nevart Kouyoumjian (center front). Photo by Marash Gir

Watertown Marashtsis gather to honor President Nevart Kouyoumjian

Dawn From The Window of A Victorian House In Newton Corner

Don't throw away those old address books!

What those old address books contain are irreplaceable memories!  Look at a name, a name from the past, and with that name comes the memory . . .  comes the memory of the wonderful aroma of choereg baking in the oven  . . .  Look at another name and start laughing at one of the many jokes that jokester would tell . . . So sorry we threw away my Mom's address book!

You will get used to it!

My cousin arrived from Italy when she was 18 years old.  Her father was very religious, and in those days, very religious meant no lipstick on women!  But my cousin was intent on becoming like her American cousins which meant wearing lipstick! And so she did.  When her father questioned her use of lipstick, she very sweetly answered him:"You will get used to it, Daddy!"

A Great Idea for a Party

Today Marash Girl attended a women's club luncheon where everyone was asked to bring something to add to the pot of soup that had been simmering on the back burner!  Folks brought canned black beans, fresh chopped onions, fresh chopped carrots, canned mushrooms, and much more.

What a great idea, she thought . . .  An idea that probably originated with the old folk tale, "Stone Soup", but certainly a wonderful idea for a hostess that's tired of cooking!

Going to see THE POST

Went to see the Post at the West Newton Cinema yesterday...Tickets were $10 for Seniors, $12 for Adults, $10 for Children.  Marash Girl asked for a Children's ticket.  She wasn't about to admit that she was a senior, but the idea of being a child rather appealed to her.  

And seeing the wonderful work of Ben Bagdigian  spread across the movie screen appealed to her even more!  It was not until she arrived home and shared her movie experience with Marash Boy that she learned that Ben Bagdigian had been born in Marash, had grown up in Springfield, Massachusetts, Ben's sister a good friend of Marash Boy's mother.  Small world!

"Spread Love! Not the Flu!"

"Spread Love! Not the Flu!"  announces a sign on the Metro in Washington, DC

What do Armenians from Marash say when someone sneezes?

What do Armenians (and probably Turks) from Marash say when someone sneezes? 

"Hepsini diyesin ki, bazisi olsun." 

"If he says all, let him have (at least) some!"

A  good, old-country sense of humor!!!!

Note:  According to Murat, the sound of the sneeze is similar to the word "hepsi" and thus the play on words!

Overheard

You have to be patient with my buyer; after all, he's a Greek octogenarian!

Hey!  YOU have to be patient with my SELLER!  After all, he's an ARMENIAN octogenarian!

Thanking God on a T-Shirt!

My sweet son-in-law:

                    "I asked God for Srength and Courage . . . He Sent Me My Armenian Wife!!!"

It's Only Pain

"It's only pain, " intoned Dr. Chernak as he corrected Marash Girl's broken bone without the aid of surgery, without anesthesia, as Lorig and Marash Girl sang, shouted John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt!

It was then that Marash Girl realized that pain was feared because it signaled serious medical problems  -  a break, an infection . . . but if the pain signaled correcting what was causing the pain, it's okay . . . we can sing (or scream) our way through it!

A Trip to Martha's Vineyard in the Middle of a New England Winter

Bored with the long, cold winter days? Miss those summer's on Martha's Vineyard?  Grab a copy of any of Philip Craig's Martha's Vineyard Mysteries and have a ball!  Marash Girl had read all of those mysteries and therefore never thought of reading them again, but as luck would have it, she wandered into a supermarket in the south of Maine this past weekend and there on a shelf opposite the checkout counter was a first edition, signed, hardcover copy (with dust jacket) in perfect condition, a copy of Philips Craig's second mystery: The Woman Who Walked Into The Sea.  Marash Girl had purchased that book (though not that copy, of course,) many years ago during an idyllic week in Edgartown.  She had read the book, passed it on, and then read all the books that followed (as well as those that preceded).  (Philip Craig wrote over 20 novels.)  Marash Girl wishes that Philip Craig were still with us, and that there were more Martha's Vineyard Mysteries  to look forward to reading!