‘A Willingness of the Heart’

Please accept my condolences. I was fortunate to have been acquainted with your aunt Rose Mary around the late 1970s / early 80s. My family, the Markarians, lived a few blocks away from her. We had a treasured, and prolific grapevine in our backyard, transplanted from my grandparents’ home in Rockaway Park. Your aunt would come over each year to pick grape leaves from our vine – no doubt to use for dolma (which I’m sure was delicious). On those occasions, she and my late mother Sonia would sit for coffee, conversation, and no doubt, Armenian food, in our sunroom. I don’t know how they initially met – maybe at a neighborhood gathering, or through a mutual friend who thought that two Armenians should meet, but witnessing their time together each season made me feel more at home in my neighborhood. We Armenians always seem to find one another; in the most unexpected ways and places. Across time and geography, we are bound to each other. I am thankful that your lovely Aunt Rose Mary and my dear Mother Sonia found a piece of home in one another. Asdvadz hokinernin lousavore.
Elizabeth Markarian Vanklian