Remembering Charlie Merrick and Norman Krim - - They Remembered It All!!!

Charlie Merrick (several generations older than Marash Girl) and Norm Krim (a generation younger than Charlie Merrick) . . . though neither knew the other, the Norm who lived in the East and one who lived in the West (the East and West of Massachusetts), both good friends of Marash Girl, both wih incredible memories . . . On different occasions (as the two never met), Marash Girl asked them the secret to their incredible memories . . . and they both had the same answer. "I write it down . . . ," Charlie in his yearly bound memorandum, and Norm in his little black book from the Harvard Coop. Oh, and let Marash Girl not to forget to add that they read their writings over on a regular basis, just to insure that they would remember those facts and incidents correctly!!! How Marash Girl misses Charlie Merrick and Norman Krim!!!

A Good Samaritan . . .

A week ago this morning, a good Samaritan, albeit 8 miles west of Boston, Massachusetts, found an automobile license in the woods bordering the Charles River, and returned that license to its rightful owner (Marash Girl's neighbor). Thank the Lord for his sharp eyes and caring heart!

And Speaking of Depressing . . . or rather the Depression . . .

Marash Girl's father Peter would tell of folks who, during the Great Depression, used to go to the Bick in Cambridge, (better known as Hayes Bickfords), ask for a glass of water (which was without cost), pour tomato ketchup (also without cost) into the water, and gratefully drink . . . their nutrition for the day.

"Why do books have to be depressing in order to be considered great?"

"Why do books have to be depressing in order to be considered great?" asked Deron when he was in junior high school. A thought-provoking question . . . .

Marash Girl Paused For The Cows To Cross Waltham Street

"One day left from the old days?" So Marash Girl thought as she would stop during her commute from suburban Newton to Lexington High School . . . stop to let the farmer and his cows cross from the field on the eastern side of Waltham Street to the field on the western side of Waltham Street. As her father would be commenting, were he still here with us, "Those days are gone . . . forever!"

Politics in Maryland

Lorig Charkoudian: A Force To Be Reckoned With In Maryland Politics

Photo Credit: Aline Charkoudian-Rogers

Marash Girl, Marash Martha, and Country & Western Music

Growing up in Newtonville, Marash Girl and Marash Martha, then only 5 or 6 years old, were gifted a radio by their father and mother. (Perhaps because they would wake up so early in the morning that they didn't allow their mother and father the sleep their parents needed!). The two girls delighted in listening to "Country and Western Music" on that radio, music that began playing, as Marash Girl remembers, as early as 5 o'clock every morning. It was such fun for the girls that Marash Martha actually, at one time, wanted to grow up to be a "cow girl"! Recalling those days, Marash Martha writes,"The best part was the yodeling!"

A PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE OR A PHYSICAL PHENOMENON?

"EVERY ACTION HAS AN EQUAL AND OPPOSITE REACTION!" Grandpa Peter, Marash Girl's father, always quoted Newton's Third Law of Motion (cited above) -- his favorite object lesson!!!!

Line Dancing in Boston, Massachusetts

Marash Girl's recent chat with Professor Renato R. (Chato, as she knew him) called to mind the time Marash Girl, while at the Armenian Booth of the Fun Fair (an outdoor fair sponsored yearly by the International Students Association in Cambridge, Massachusets,) sold tickets for an Armenian dance taking place in Boston that evening, to a young Navaho man (a student at Harvard College at the time), tickets for the Harvard/Radcliffe/BU/Tufts/Jackson/Simmons Armenian Dance.... (a fundraiser for the Harvard-Radcliffe Armenian Club, as well as for the Armenian clubs of the other colleges and universities in the Boston area). Attending the event, while dancing the Armenian line dance at which Marash Girl's mother and father were "chaperones", Alan (her Navaho friend) commented that the simple Armenian line dance, the "bar" as it was called in Armenian, was eerily (Marash Girl's word) familiar, calling to mind the simple Navajo line dance. Two peoples geographically distanced, and yet . . .

The French on Vaccinating Against the Corona Virus

Un petit truc pour faire rigoler. J’ai reçu le suivant de la part de ma copine Corine en France qui est médecin. ... _________________ Un médecin a décidé de vacciner un Anglais, un Français, un Allemand et un Américain. Il dit à l'Anglais : - C'est par ici votre vaccin s'il vous plaît. - Je ne veux pas! - Allez ! Un gentleman se ferait vacciner. Et l'Anglais s'est fait vacciner. Le médecin s'adresse à l'Allemand: - Maintenant c'est ton tour. - Non merci ! - C'est un ordre ! Et l'allemand s'est fait vacciner. Le médecin s'adresse a l’Américain : - Maintenant, c'est à votre tour. - En aucun cas ! - Mais vous savez, votre voisin s'est fait vacciner. Et l’américain s'est fait vacciner. Le médecin s'adresse au Français : - A vous maintenant ! - Je ne me ferai pas vacciner ! - Allez, un gentleman se ferait vacciner. - En aucune façon ! - C'est un ordre ! - Non ! - Vous savez, votre voisin s'est fait vacciner... - Je m'en fous ! - Écoutez... qui êtes-vous exactement ? - un Français. - Ah, un Français ! De toutes façons, vous n'avez pas droit au vaccin. - COMMENT ÇA, JE N'Y AI PAS DROIT ???!!! .... et le Français se fit vacciner.

On Reading Books Borrowed From A Library

Marash Girl loves to read in bed, and because of that, stopped borrowing books from the library . . . after all, who would want to go to bed with a book that someone else has already gone to bed with!!!!

And Remembering Jack Bezjian

The foremost memory of Jack Bezjian, Marash Girl's mom's cousin who lived in Troy, New York, the source of much joy for Marash Girl's family . . . as she was saying, the foremost memory of Jack Bezjian for Marash Girl is the time the family drove to Troy, New York to visit Jack and his family. After a long (and for little Marash Girl, arduous) drive across Massachusetts into New York State, Marash Girl's dad Peter turned his automobile (crowded with all five members of the family) onto the street in Troy, New York, where the Bezjians lived, and there, waiting for them, was Jack Bezjian, standing at the corner of the street swinging a lantern, welcoming his relatives to his home!

Remembering Henry and Rose (Bezjian) Nofal

When Marash Girl began thinking about summer, especially summers along the North Shore of Massachusetts, summers on the shores of her favorite summer island, Plum Island, she remembered the following. Many years ago, when Henry and Rose (Bezjian) Nofal were visiting Marash Girl's family in Newtonville, Massachusetts, (the Nofals had driven all the way from Troy, New York,) Marash Girl's father decided to surprise his children (Marash Girl and her siblings) and Henry and Rose Nofal with a trip to Plum Island, an island off the North Shore (of Massachusetts). Living in Troy, New York, they rarely had the opportunity of experience the Atlantic Ocean! Arriving at Plum Island (Newburyport, Massachusetts) after driving north for one and a half hours, the Marash Girl's father and his family decided to take their guests for a leisurly walk along the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. Enjoying the warmth of the sun and the music of the surf, they suddenly heard the screams of a swimmer . . . a swimmer who had been caught in the notorious surf undertow of Plum Island. Without hesitation, both Henry and Rose dove into the surf and rescued that swimmer, bringing him safely back to shore. What a wonderful and courageous couple they were! Marash Girl misses those summers on Plum Island and she so misses you, Henry and Rose!!!

Riddle Again!!! Let's see how you do with this one . . .

What kind of brush do you want to avoid at all costs? A prize for the first/best/correct answer!

Why should we support black lives matter?

https://asbarez.com/194482/why-we-should-support-black-lives-matter/

LEST WE FORGET . . .

At rally with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the Boston Common - April 23, 1965 - (photographer unkown)

"When is it impossible to stay warm under a blanket?" Here's the solution to the quandary!

"When is it impossible to stay warm under a blanket?" Have you figured out the answer yet? Well, here it is! "It's impossible to stay warm under a blanket when it's a blanket of snow!!!" Copyright Marash Girl 2021

HIDDEN SHRINE IN NEWTON CORNER

PRAYER TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY IN THE HOLLOW OF A TREE

Photo by Marash Girl 2021 Where is this shrine hidden? A prize for the first person who guesses its correct location.

Note on Mummy and Daddy's Wedding: Blog post for January 15 & January 16, 2021

January 15, 2021 Jennie (from an Aintepsi family) and Peter (from a Marashtsi family) were to get married at the Armenian Brethren Church in Watertown, Massachusetts, but on the day of the wedding, so many of the Aintepsis in the Boston community and so many of the Marashtsis in the Boston community showed up for the wedding that just before the wedding was to take place, the couple had to change the venue of the wedding. All of the guests, (both invited and uninvited), the minister, and the couple to be wedded had to drive to the Baptist Church on Western Avenue in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a church large enough to contain the hundreds(?) of guests who had arrived to celebrate the couple's union. To the best of our knowledge, the minister that married Jennie and Peter on January 15 of 1940 was Reverend Stengaard. Blog post for January 16, 2021 "A Note on Mummy and Daddy's Wedding" Jennie (from an Aintepsi family) and Peter (from a Marashtsi family) were to get married at the Armenian Brethren Church in Watertown, Massachusetts, but on the day of the wedding, so many of the Aintepsis in the Boston community and so many of the Marashtsis in the Boston community showed up for the wedding that just before the wedding was to take place, the couple had to change the venue of the wedding. All of the guests, (both invited and uninvited), the minister, and the couple to be wedded had to drive to the Baptist Church on Western Avenue in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a church large enough to contain the hundreds(?) of guests who had arrived to celebrate the couple's union. To the best of our knowledge, the minister that married Jennie and Peter on January 15 of 1940 was Reverend Stengaard.

Happy Anniversary, Mummy and Daddy!

Happy Anniversary, Mummy and Daddy! Would that you were both still with us!!! Remembering the story that you told about your honeymoon in Washington, DC. Peter drove his bride (who had no driver's license at that time) to Washington, DC, on there honeymooon, but World War Two had just broken out, and there was no lodging anywhere to be found, ("no room at the inn," as it were,) so Peter drove up to a gas station, filled his automobile gasoline tank with fuel, and as he paid the attendant, asked where he and his bride (Marash Girl's Mummy) might rent a room for the night. The gasoline station attendant, hiding a smirk, pointed to the white pillared mansion across the street, and suggested that Peter inquire there. Shy? Peter was not! And so, following the attendant's instructions, he drove across the street and, leaving his bride in the car, walked up to the door of the mansion and knocked. (No, this is not a "knock-knock" joke!). A man (who Peter later learned was the butler) came to the door. "May I help you?" Peter asked to speak with the owner of the house. When the owner came to the door, Peter explained the situation, and asked if she had a room available for rent. "The idea!" replied the woman, offended at such a request. But Peter, charming as he was (and blonde and blue-eyed, to boot), explained his conundrum. The woman said, "Let me see your wife!" (My guess is that she suspected Peter was with a poz.) So Peter motioned for his bride to get out of the car. The woman requested that his bride "turn around" so that the woman could make a more complete inspection. Jennie obeyed and carefully turned around. Satisfied, the woman invited Peter and Jennie into her home, where they were guests (paying no rent) for the next two weeks, having become best of friends with the owner of the house. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the truth, as Mummy and Daddy told it many years ago!!!!