They Published My Story!

Thanks to 100 lives, they published my story which I wrote about the steps, the tragedies and the efforts of goodhearted people that enabled my mother and my grandparents to escape to America.

https://100lives.com/en/stories/detail/regular/7578/shirley-collins

1928 France

 The picture shows 1928 France: these are the two Bardakjian brothers who looked after my mother, my grandmother and my uncle while my grandfather went to America to find a job and a home.  Unfortunately, my uncle could not get a quota because he was born in Jerusalem and it took four years before my grandmother finally relented and left him with his cousins while she and my mother went on the boat without him.  My mother cried the whole trip across the sea.  It would be another 6 months before my uncle was able to join the rest of the family in Philadelphia.

This is why I always thank the Bardakjian family for taking such good care of my family so many years ago.

Today is April 24th

 Today Armenians all over the world (and yes, we are literally scattered all over the world) have united in commemoration of a genocide that took place in what is now Turkey 100 years ago.  Every Armenian family was touched, torn apart and irreparably damaged by the events.  Some losing their whole family.  I fretted as to what to say on this blog today and then I saw my daughter's post on her Instagram account and I knew I found the answer.  I will re-post it here with her beautiful picture.

People ask me why it is important to Armenians that the genocide our ancestors endured is labeled as "genocide". I've thought about how to answer that question and why it is important to me as a half armenian person. For me it is personal; my family suffered as a result of it and it is not fair that I can't grieve for them appropriately. My great grandmother did not lose 5 of her children and run away scared from the home she loves because of a war to which she was not a part of. It is personal because I know that my race alone was the reason a group of people wanted our death. However, a better answer would be the following: We as humans should not, can not live amongst each other in a civil way and learn from our mistakes if they are brushed under a blood soaked rug. We must acknowledge what has happened so we make sure it does not continue to happen.