My Facebook Friends

My Facebook Friends come in every creed, color and ideology

(And everything in between)

From A to Z

A-My friends are American, Armenian, Arab, Australian, artists, Atheists & animal lovers, 

B-Some of my friends are bankers, beauticians, bachelors, bicyclists and baby lovers,

C-There are some who are clever, creative, cooks, celebrities and cat lovers.

D-Then there are the dog lovers, dare devils, down to earths, Democrats and doctors.

E-I have a few elitists, enlightened ones, elegant ones and earnest friends.

F-Happy to say I have some famous friends, feminists, fearless and fancy friends.

G-I have a lot of good friends, goofy ones,  gorgeous and gritty friends.

H-I'm friends with some honest, hilarious, handsome and hard working friends. 

I-I'm sure I have Iranian friends, inclusionary friends and a lot of idealists.

J-Ii's good to have some jeweler friends, Jewish friends, journalist and just friends.

K-There are karaoke, kale, and kabob lovers, and some Keats and ML King lovers. 

L-I have a lot of logical friends, a few lawyers and some leftist friends.

M-There are some macho friends, some mellow ones, methodical and mocking friends.

N-Not to forget my naive friends, the nationalistic friends and noble friends. 

O-There are my observant friends, otherworldly and a few ostentatious friends. 

P-I have some pacifist as well as poet friends and picky friends.

Q-There is always one quiet friend, possibly a quantizer and a quibbler friend 

R-My rambunctious friends are fun, so are the romantics, & of course the Republicans. 

S-Having smart friends is useful, I like my suave friends and the sensitive ones. 

T- I have tired friends and tenacious friends & some troublemakers. 

U-Sorry to say I don’t have any ufologists or Ugandan friends but I like to. 

V-I have some valuable friends and some friend with very good values. 

W-Happy to say I have some wine lover friends and unfortunately some whiners too.

X-X-ray technicians, a few Xer friends, but xylophone players are rear these days

Y-I have a yachtswoman & yachtsman but they're not Face-booking much. I have no yakuza or Yalie friends either.

Z-Would be interesting to have one zaddikim friend but I wouldn’t know what to do with a zoftig

Keats-(1916–83) US illustrator and author of children's books

Ostentatious-showy way designed to impress

Pacifist- a person who believes that war and violence are unjustifiable

Quantizer-apply quantum theory to, especially form into quanta

Rambunctious-uncontrollably exuberant; boisterous

Ufologists-the study of UFOs

Xer-another term for Gen Xer.

Yakuza- a Japanese gangster or racketeer.

Zaddikim -a Hasidic spiritual leader or guide

Zoftig-a woman having a full, rounded figure; plump

Desperate for Answers

Desperate for Answers

When will parents stop feeling guilty about how their children's lives turned out? 

When should a parent shift responsibility for a disabled child to another entity? 

What if a child never becomes an independent adult? 

Should parents put themselves first at any time?

Or children should come first all the time? 

Should parents prepare their children with the eventuality of parental death? 

At what age do children understand the concept of death? 

How can any parent guarantee that their disabled child will be taken care of after they’re 

gone? 

Should the siblings have any responsibility for their sick or disabled sibling? And to what extent? 

Should the extended family be responsible for a child who’s left parentless?

Is it a good idea to appoint an outsider as your Trustee? In appose to a family member? 

Will my disabled adult child feel abandoned if I place her in a group home?

Would I hurt her psychologically if I do?

What if something awful happens to her there? Will she recover emotionally? Will I?

Will I be able to forgive myself?

Have I been using my disabled child as a crutch? 

Do I blame her for my failures? Or use her as an excuse for them? 

Would I be a different person if she had remained healthy?

How has her life impacted mine?

Can I find answers for these difficult questions?

April 24 Imbeded in My Psychie

    A long time ago a psychiatrist told me that most Armenian women are depressed, he didn't tell me if this information was the result of a study, I assumed he had treated a large proportion of Armenian  women in his practice.  I am not a psychiatrist nor am I a research scientist but I can guess one reason for their depression, the Armenian genocide.  

    From a very early age even today, starting from pre-school Armenian children are taught about the Armenian Genocide. Year after year we marked April 24; in the beginning as a mourning day and in more recent times as a remembrance day of the events of April 24, 1915.  We were taught about the atrocities that were committed by the Turkish government. We read books about the events, graphic memoirs, and horifying survivor testimonies. I for one read countless books mostly dealing with Armenian history, specially Western Armenian history.  Even now I remember how these books effected me, I felt great sadness, rage, hopelessness and hatred.  These feelings just kept growing as I matured and understood more. We were always told never to forget what happened to our people.  What I understood from my readings, was that no one cared, no one came to our rescue, no one even attempted.  Then came the denials of the Turkish government.  Despite the fact that this genocide happened 100 years ago, the Armenian genocide is well documented. There are books by non-Armenian writers,  there are pictures, retelling of the events by missionary workers, by American generals, by other countries ambassadors in Turkey. And yet the Turkish government still denies it. 

    In my opinion most Armenians have been and are traumatized and scarred by their history. I feel that all new generations will be traumatized and deeply effected until this crime against humanity in general and against Armenians in particular is acknowledged by the Turkish government.

    Last year when I saw my 4 year old grand-daughter wearing a commemorative shirt about April 24 it really broke my heart. I felt so sad and angry that this little girl had to know and will know more as she grows about the ugliness and cruelty of humans to their kind. I wish she didn't have to.

My Nieces

My Nieces 

I have 7 sisters and 2 brothers and between them they have 11 daughters. I am 5 years older from my oldest niece and 38 years older from my youngest one. The age range therefore is from middle 50s to early 20s. 

I have been around when some of them were born, I have seen some of them grow up, I have been present at one of their birth’s.  Like most families these days we are scattered across continents and countries. Some of my nieces live close and some are far away and our relationships are the same way, some are close and some are distant. 

Having a large family has many joys, both when you are a child and when you are an adult and one of the joys is having nieces and nephews.  You love them because they are an extension of your brother or sister whom you love. You also love them because they all start from babyhood and babies are adorable. Being part of a large family teaches you how to love that’s why all my brothers and sisters have been loving parents and now loving grandparents. 

I chose to write only about my nieces because my relationships with my sisters are unique and special. I am the youngest girl in my family so most of my life I have been their little sister. I became an adult in their eyes, I think after I was thirty years old.  Being the youngest aunt to my nieces had the advantage that some of them felt closer to me than to their other aunts and I enjoyed that privilege greatly. 

I love all my sisters equally but for different reasons because they are all different individuals with different qualities. I admire all of them for their humane nature, their compassion, their empathy and for their achievements. 

I may have loved my nieces when they were babies because they were beautiful and cute. As they grew up and found their way in life I loved them for their choices, their open mind and their accomplishments 

In my opinion my greatest weakness is my honesty and directness, and with the risk of self injury I will admit publicly that I feel deeply hurt when one of my nieces deceives me, or betrays me or worst of all comes between me and my sister.  

I take solace in the thought that at least some of my sisters still love and value me just like when I was their little sister.