The Mystery of the Disappearing Car

Christmas morning, and Marash Boy, age 4, found a kid's pedal car under the Christmas Tree at 17 Dearborn Street, Springfield, his home.  He was thrilled.  He rode in his little car throughout the house --  from the living room into the dining room, from the dining room into the kitchen, from the kitchen into the hallway and all the way down the hallway until he reached the living room where he would take a sharp turn to the left and start his trip all over again.  But two days later, his pedal car had disappeared.  He was sad, but dared not ask the car's whereabouts for fear of hurting his parents.  That same day, he went with his mother on a shopping trip down town, and there he saw, in the window of their friend's cobbler shop, his little car.  He saw but said nothing, swallowing his hurt, but 14 years later, he built his own car, a car he rode throughout Springfield, Massachusetts, and later, as a Harvard student, throughout the Harvard and Radcliffe campuses, carrying with him the prettiest girls in town.

Goodbye, Caroline, May God Be With You

Caroline's Holiday Message to the World

People really do die of pneumonia.  Caroline Rand Herron, long time friend and Radcliffe classmate, New York Times writer and editor, long time resident and community activist in Truro, Massachusetts, passed away this week. She had had three different strains of pneumonia.   I'm sure she's screaming as loudly as she can, "GET YOUR PNEUMONIA SHOT," but, at the end, she did not die of pneumonia.  While in Brooklyn to attend to the issue of repeated pneumonia, she died of an asthma attack that was so severe, the emergency folks could not reach her in time to save her life. . . Were she still with us, Marash Girl is certain she would have  more than a few acerbic words to say to them . . . We will miss her words, both spoken and written.

Goodbye, Caroline, May God Be With You.

On Armenian Christmas

 The First Christmas from an Ancient Armenian Illuminated Manuscript

"The Armenian Church celebrates the holy birth (Sourp Dznount) of Jesus Christ on January 6. In Armenian tradition, this feast day commemorates not only the birth of Christ, but also His baptism by John the Baptist. The latter is remembered through the 'Blessing of Water"' ceremony, which follows the Divine Liturgy on January 6."

Love Their Faults

Advice to those about to marry from Marash Girl's father:  Anyone can love someone for their "good points".  The question is whether or not you can love the person's "bad points".   If you can live with those, you'll be fine.

Frank Stella and Arppie

Yesterday, as Marash Girl listed a "coffee table book" for sale (FRANK STELLA, a volume published in 1970 by the Museum of Modern Art) she remembered Arppie.   Yes, it's the new year and Marash Girl continues to remember with love the wonderful people who have been a part of her life.  Arppie, Marash Boy's sister, (someone who, by the way, visited Marash in 1962 or thereabouts, not with a group but on her own), was not only the International President of the Armenian Relief Society, but she was the Director of the Jorgensen Auditorium at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut; as such, she always invited her friends and relatives to University concerts and art openings.  It was during one of these events that Marash Girl became aware of Frank Stella's work.  And she has been a fan of Frank Stella ever since.  [And it's important to note here that Marash Girl has always been a fan of (God rest her soul) Arppie!]

Pages from William Rubin's work on Frank Stella published by MOMA in 1970.

Cousin Herald and the Bag of Chocolate Chips

Who doesn't like chocolate chips?  Stop reading right now if you don't.  For those of you who know (or knew) the love for chocolate chips, read on.

Grandma Jennie loved to bake and would often bake chocolate chip cookies, but her kids loved the chips whether or not they were surrounded by cookie dough.  Thus, in the interest of keeping chips on hand for her baking needs (which were often, as she entertained frequently and generously), Grandma Jennie placed her bag of gold . . . er, chocolate chips. . . on the topmost shelf of the kitchen cabinet,  just above the Westinghouse electric stove, and just to the left of the cellar door.

Try as they might, the kids could not reach those chocolate chips; that is, they could not reach them unless their cousin Herald came visiting.  He, too, loved chocolate chips, and he was tall! The kids were never so happy as when Herald reached up to that top shelf and they could all share in Grandma Jennie's chocolate chips.  

The funny thing is, Grandma Jennie never once scolded any of her kids for their "generosity" to their cousin Herald.

More on "Too good to be true!"

This morning Marash Girl was wakened by a text asking, "So what was too good to be true?"  She supposed the texter was referring to an earlier blog post by that title.

What prompted that earlier post?  Marash Girl had been talking with an Armenian friend who commented that her mother always said, shud luv, luv ché.  (Translating from the Armenian, very good (or too good), not good.)

As the friend and Marash Girl discussed the saying on New Year's Day, it turns out that Marash Girl's friend always thought that the expression meant (or that her mother meant) that it is not good to be too good to someone else because the recipient would not appreciate the favor, and would become resentful. Marash Girl thought the phrase meant that whenever someone appears to be too good, you know there has to be a flaw hidden somewhere -- that one should never assume perfection in another person (or in oneself, for that matter!)

How would you interpret the saying?

SHNORHAVOR NOR DARI YEV SOURP DZNOUNT

Happy New Year and Holy Birth

Memories of Marash: The Legacy of a Lost Armenian Community: A film by Roger Hagopian

On the last day of the year, Roger Hagopian helps us to remember.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ2FB2f7YoI

An envelope stamped and mailed in Marash on January 25, 1913

January 25, 1913 a postage stamp and envelope sealed and sent from Marash. Photo Courtesy of Ozcan Gulkesen, Birzamanlar Marash Facebook Page

One wonders to whom this envelope was addressed and what it might have contained. . . Peter Bilezikian was six months old when this envelope was postmarked.  Who knew at that time of the devastation that was soon to follow in Marash.

Too Good To Be True!

A  friend and Marash Girl were chatting the other day, and the friend commented on someone they had both met recently at a party.

"My mother would have said,  Շատ լաւ, Լաւ չե! (Shud luv, luv ché!).  Or she might have chosen to say it in English: "Too good, no good!"

Or as Americans might put it, "Too good to be true!"

Marash Red Pepper On Your Tulip Bulbs?

One of Marash Girl's favorite Christmas gifts this year was a dozen tulip bulbs, planted for her on Christmas Day.  And guess what?  Marash Girl insisted that the bulbs be sprinkled with Marash red pepper before the tulip bulbs were covered with soil.  Anyone know why?

Hint #1.  Here in New England we have lots of grey squirrels.

Hint #2.  Grey squirrels love tulip bulbs.

Hint #3.  Grey squirrels hate to eat anything that will burn their tender tongues!

Glamorize Your Punch This New Year's Eve!

Making a big punch bowl of . . . . yes, of course, punch?  (What is punch and why is it called punch?)

Marash Girl makes hers with cranberry juice cocktail and gingerale (both all natural, of course), as you may have read in some of her previous posts, a punch she first tasted at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts Christmas Celebration many years ago.

But Marash Girl adds a special zing to her punch, both visually and taste wise, a zing provided by the ice that she prepares especially for the punch.

Marash Girl fills large fancy bundt cake pans with fresh water in which she floats thinly sliced oranges and lemons. She then places the fruit and water filled bundt pans in the freezer, and when frozen, removes (by running hot water over the bottoms of the pans) the beautiful shapes from the pans to use as ice in the punch. This home-made ice elegance not only adds glamour to your punch bowl but adds a bit of zing to the punch as the ice melts (the flavors of the rind and the juice are subtle but there).

By preparing your own ice in this way, you do not have to worry about running to the nearest package store for large bags of ice, but can prepare many pans of your own fancy ice ahead of time, wrapping the beautiful ice forms in plastic and storing them in the freezer.  The ice made in this way will melt more slowly and keep your punch coldly delicious.

Happy celebrating!

AGRA HADIK cont'd

Photos from Dylan Marie's Agra Hadik

 

Dylan Marie had been reaching for the "Dahn Digin" Doll, a doll dressed in traditional costume, symbolizing life in the home and a mother, wife and homemaker, but as you can see in earlier photos, there was interference and urging from older members of her family.  She selected the Lip Gloss.  Go figure what that symbolizes!

 Hadik, the traditional dessert served at the Hadik celebration, is boiled hulled wheat, sweetened with sugar and cinnamon and decorated with dried fruits and nuts to be served to the assembled after the 6 month old child chooses her future!  The kernels of hulled wheat look like a baby's first tooth.

The First Christmas

The First Christmas for Dylan Marie

The First Christmas from an Ancient Armenian Illuminated Manuscript

Agra Hadik

Having been brought up Protestant, Marash Girl does not know a lot about the Agra Hadik tradition, but since her grandchildren have been born, she's been an ardent enthusiast.  Today the family will celebrate Dylan Marie's Hadik, yes, albeit on Christmas Eve.  What is Hadik?

When a baby approaches six months old, it is traditional in the Armenian culture to mark the occasion with a Hadik celebration, a celebration of the baby's first tooth.  As Marash Girl understands it, (and please add your comments below, for she's sure you may know more about this celebration than she does), the family invites close friends and relatives to a small afternoon party where a blanket is spread out on the floor, on the blanket is placed various object that represent occupations (for example, a pencil to represent a writer, a gavel to represent a judge, a large cooking spoon to represent a cook, a cross to represent a priest or minister, a comb to represent a hairdresser, a stethoscope to represent a doctor . . . you get the idea).  The baby is then placed on the blanket surrounded by the guests who try to encourage the baby to reach for the favored profession of that particular guest.  When the baby finally reaches for an object (for example, a soup ladle), the guests cheer and hug the baby, and then drop some "Hadik" on the baby's head to try to make the baby laugh and show that first tooth.  The guests then gather around the large bowl of Hadik (hulled wheat -- which when cooked, looks exactly like a baby tooth -- cooked up with sugar and cinnamon) and partake of the Hadik, laughing and wishing the baby well.  The hadik is followed by pastries and coffee/tea for the guests, or, if the party takes place during supper time, a full meal is enjoyed by all.

AN ORANGE AT CHRISTMAS

Peter never wanted to open a gift at Christmas. He was saddened when we asked him about celebrating Christmas in Marash.  His memories of Christmas?  
"In Marash, we each were given one dilim (one slice) of an orange for Christmas -- what a treat!"

In remembrance,  at Christmas, Marash Girl puts an orange in every Christmas stocking that hangs from her fireplace mantle. In remembrance.

Missionary Photo of Marash c. 1919

The above photo was taken by Dr.Stanley Kerr in 1919 in Marash.   American mission buildings were at the northeast part of the city.

                         Photo and photo identification courtesy of Osman Koker

This is the Marash where Marash Girl's father lived 'til the age of 8.  Those were the mountains that he roamed, where he and his fellow playmates mirrored the struggle that was going on in the city below.  Peter grew up in Kumbet, a village of Marash, but had to flee with his family in 1920 during the mass deportations and genocide of the Armenians by the Turks.

 r

The Nutcracker?

Yesterday morning, Marash Girl received a phone call.

Young Friend: Guess where we're taking the kids today!  To the n. . .

Marash Girl (breaking in):  To the Nutcracker?

Young Friend:  To the new Star Wars movie!

"How Christmases have changed!" Marash Girl thought, but to herself only!

A First Christmas

Dylan Marie wonders, "What is going on?"