‘If You Pay Attention, You Can Feel Their Presence…’

Dear Knarik,

Thank you for this beautiful article. I hope to join a group going to Historic Armenia, including Dikranagerd in the fall. You asked, “Are we in the diaspora and Armenia doing all we can to uphold the illustrious legacy bestowed upon us by our forefathers?” The answer is no.

I hope to inspire more Armenians to do more to keep our legacy alive by sharing the example of my grandfather and his friends. Remarkably, after surviving the genocide, they worked themselves out of poverty, married and raised families, and had the vision and drive to build Armenian churches and schools in America, the Middle East, and Armenia. They were able to set aside politics and other individual differences to achieve far more than the generations of Armenians who have followed. Their single-minded purpose was to preserve our Armenian legacy by building churches, with community centers and schools, for Armenians to come together.

The ancient Armenian prayers and hymns were only part of what our parents and grandparents wanted us to remember. They wanted us to know our history and customs. They hoped we would speak our Armenian language, dance and sing to Armenian music, read Armenian poetry and literature, and savor the foods prepared following our family recipes.

How many Armenians know what our grandparents names mean? Exactly how much do we know about where our grandparents and Armenian ancestors came from? Do we know anything about how they lived, how they earned a living, what their lives were like?

During the process of writing a book about my grandfather and his friends (the manuscript is almost ready), I began to embrace my Armenian heritage. I am finally learning to speak Armenian, reading Armenian literature and history, listening to Armenian music, cooking my grandmother’s and aunts’ recipes, and even going to church (occasionally).

We owe every Armenian who came before us our gratitude. We owe it to ourselves to discover all that we can about our great Armenian legacy.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this comment, this fall I will visit our historic homeland. Since I began paying attention, I can feel their presence. They are within me. They are within all of us.

Thank you again.

Sheri Sona Jordan
New York

Dear Sheri,

I am happy to know that you liked the article.

Yes, we absolutely “owe every Armenian who came before us our gratitude.” And, “we owe it to ourselves to discover all that we can about our great Armenian legacy.”

I wish you great success in your worthy endeavors.

Knarik Meneshian

Such an inspiring article. Congratulations to both Gohar and Khatchig. I am happy Mr. Mouradian is bringing back such interesting information for us about his travels. He is right in that their (our ancestors) presence can be felt even here in the diaspora I feel it when I prepare certain traditional Armenian foods and when I am writing about Armenian events. Our blood connects us all. I feel that I truly am the daughter of Noah and Ararat. It is a beautiful feeling.