The Song of My Heart

By Nora Agaronian

This inspirational book is for those who love nature and gardening; and for those who enjoy listening to the beautiful songs of the birds. My garden is a symbol of love for my parents and the legacy they left for my family and me. For me, the garden conveys a connection with nature and my childhood. I have unforgettable memories. It also symbolizes my love for my parents and appreciation for the legacy they left behind. They are with me in my glorious garden all the time. Our home in Armenia was adorned with beautiful flowers that glowed and glittered under the golden beams of the sun. So is my garden, in a secret corner of my Los Angeles backyard. This book also refers to the mother-daughter relationship. With both sweet and sorrowful tears, I dedicated this book to my dearest daughter, Anoush. Knowing her own family story, Anoush would know where she came from and where she is heading. My book also embraces those who immigrated to the United States from other countries. It is about parents, grandparents, children, and grandchildren. It is about five generations living together in the twenty-first century in harmony. It is an interesting, exciting, and fulfilling opportunity for each generation to live together and learn from each other. It speaks of family relationships mainly concentrates on mother-daughter and father-daughter relationships. The family legacy continues in those families where relationships are clear and clean, there is mutual respect for each other, and positive approaches are used to deal with family issues. In these families, nobody is alone. They solve their problems together. It pulls in precepts from educators as well. It clearly shows how the community and schools effect our childrens development.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Mar 19, 2015
• ISBN: 9781504329194

Nora Agaronian

For the past thirty five years, while residing in the United States, Nora Aharonian (Agaronian) has worked in several secondary schools in the Los Angeles Unified school district (LAUSD). Prior to coming to America, she taught English as a foreign language in Armenia for five years. She has served in countless positions within the LAUSD. Providing English language development methods, strategies, and motivation to colleagues, she chaired the English as a second language program at her school. Nora has worked as a mentor, a tutoring program coordinator, and has been a member of the school site council and a secondary school counselor. In all of these roles and responsibilities, she has demonstrated the highest professional ethics and thorough knowledge of curriculum and methodology, as well as sensitivity toward her students, parents, and colleagues. Nora has Master’s Degree in Bilingual Multicultural Education and Counseling and Guidance. She lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband and daughter.

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Copyright © 2015 Nora Agaronian.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-5043-2918-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-2920-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-2919-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015903366

Balboa Press rev. date: 03/18/2015

Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

Part 1

The Song of My Heart

My parents’ gorgeous home and heavenly beautiful garden in Armenia, in the city of Marash.

Golden Memories

Education in Soviet Armenia in the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s

The Influence of Mother

My Mother’s Rose Petal Preserves

Nostalgia

Nature in My Soul

Our Mulberry Tree

The School I Attended

From the Landscape of My Memory

Life at the University

Multicultural and Multilingual I Am

My Husband, Al, and His Family Background

Our Marriage, Al and Me

Anoush’s Childhood in Armenia

Anoush and Me in Grandparents’ Paradise

Farewell to the Motherland

Part 2

We All Learn from Pain Armenians in America

Armenian Culture: Living in the United States of America

Five Generations Living Together Struggling to Understand Each Other

The Armenian Family Then and Now

Narcissism

The Armenian Mother’s Role in the Family

Characteristics of the Armenian Man and Father

Father-Daughter Relationships

Suggestions for Our Fathers and Children

Stings of Remorse

True Love, Sincerity, and Understanding Will Keep the Family Together

Mother-Daughter Relationships

Mother’s Heart: What Is the Limit?

Suggestions

Why Do Children Become Indifferent and Disrespectful toward Their Parents?

American Public Schools Today

Human versus Inhuman Education

The Fish Smells from the Head

My Aspiration as a Caring and Loving Educator and Counselor

Vanishing Traditions, Respect, Remorse, and Mercy

Part 3

My Parents’ Life in the United States: Rich and Honorable Life

Three Generations Living under the Same Roof

At My Father’s Grave

Anoush Thanks Her Grandparents for Their Love

My Parents’ Legacy Continues Our Relationship with Our Relatives

My Parents’ Legacy for My Garden

Part 4

Our Odyssey Mother and Daughter Forever!

Originality, Simplicity, True Love, and Creativity Are the Foundations for Creating This Book

Mother and Daughter Forever

The Joy of Being a Mother and Raising a Moral Child in an Immoral World

My Daughter and Me: The Bittersweet

Is it a Generation Gap or a Generation Choice?

My Advice to My Dearest Daughter and to Those Who Might Benefit from It

Bibliography

About the Author

"Nora Aharonian is a strong, talented, and beautiful woman. The Song of My Heart is very inspirational and deserves great praise. It is extremely commendable when an individual such as herself carries throughout her life the discipline her parents instilled in her. It brings my heart a great joy to see that she will always remember her parents’ words of wisdom. The Song of My Heart contains memories and knowledgeable stories from her past."

—Agavni Sarksyan, Zulalyan, mother/grandmother/artist

"The Song of My Heart was crafted with such passion and transparency. Aharonian’s heart was revealed on every page. Her words have spoken to every facet of life—the individual, the family, nature, culture, love, values, and education. As an educator, I was struck by her instructional prowess, which declares that the confident child is the child who is reared in a nurtured environment.

"Aharonian’s amazing piece, detailing her father’s garden, took me to a place that could easily be called heaven. I was strapped to each page as it heralded the healing, hidden secrets to life found in a garden. Although The Song of My Heart is penned around Armenian culture, it is a read that will resonate with every family on the planet."

—Barbara Lesure, mother/grandmother/educator/master’s in education

"Knowing Aharonian as a fantastic woman, a consummate professional, an outstanding educator, and one who loves and respects life, I felt the author’s presence on every page of her compelling account of her family’s journey from Armenia to America. I was impressed with the scope and depth of Nora’s analysis of the importance of character education in the life of our children. Throughout history, character education has been the shared responsibility of parents, teachers, and members of the community, who come together to support positive character development. The author of The Song of My Heart shares those roles and the effects of strong leadership in the home, school, and community on the child’s development. I believe school is a place to learn about being a good student. What a powerful educational environment exists when administrators respect, acknowledge, and encourage all staff members and they in turn transfer this to students.

The Song of My Heart is beautifully written, rich in detail, and profound. It is an informative blend of memoir and cultural history. It will give incredible insight to anyone who reads it."

—Odaris Jordan, mother/grandmother/ educator/master’s in education

"Nora loves life! She loves light! The awe-inspiring, everlasting love of nature is her delight. Nora finds that her garden is a place of abundant joy and mirth. Flowers, trees, and bushes live and breathe in a magical fusion of colors. They are dancing in shimmering elegance of light and love as they do in her poems.

"As a visitor to her garden, I am struck by the fragrance of blossoming flowers, by the joyful melody of hummingbirds’ and robins’ songs, and by the cascading waters of her fishpond. The golden sunbeams, like a celestial spotlight, are showering from heaven. During my visit, I truly enjoyed the splendor of her utterly charming garden, which to me is called a paradise. With the freshness of dawn, immersed with twilight rays, Nora’s garden awakens love and gratitude. When in want of the garden her parents created in Armenia, Nora finds fulfillment in the charming garden she has created here in America.

Nora has fully earned the title of outstanding mother and delicate wife and is a true educator. Armenian culture is proud to have a role model like her.

—Nelly Barsegyan, mother/wife/grandmother/ophthalmologist

"This is both a brief summary of an utterly honorable and virtuous family with fascinating and amusing traditions, customs and heritage, and educational guide for all cultures. Knowing the author, now I see clearly from whom she has inherited all her beautiful characteristics, including honesty, purity, genuineness, and unconditional dedication toward humanity.

"Nora’s parents’ paradise garden was a result of their hard and strenuous work. Their sustained stewardship left a grand mark on this author. For Nora, every single flower, tree, or vine in the garden has been inspiration. The garden brought out great aesthetic style as it allowed Nora to form beauty in her own life. Her pursuits of family, friends, and acquaintances have been supreme. By way of advice, gifts, and time, Nora gives of her soul so that others enjoy the finer things in life.

"Every Armenian mother is ready to sacrifice unconditionally for her children. I wish children today would value and appreciate their parents’ efforts as much as the beautiful author of The Song of My Heart does."

—Gohar Hovhannisyan, mother/grandmother/educator, talented singer and poet, University of Language of Arts, Armenia

"In the genuine and authentic lines of Nora’s poetry and recollections there is light, smell of the sparkling fragrance of nature, feeling of happiness and love. When it is impossible to embrace the world, then one can create her own world by crystallizing the wonders of nature. Her heavenly beautiful garden is her world.

Nora is an individual who lives with nature, and the nature lives in her.

—Sarkis Mouradyan, artist/painter/illustrator/University of Art and Painting, Armenia

"In order to make the world a better place in which to live, we need to take a deep look inside ourselves and examine our attitudes, actions, and deeds. That is exactly what Nora did in The Song of My Heart. Only a daring individual has the audacity to share her personal challenges and accomplishments with the whole world. I am convinced The Song of My Heart will resonate with every culture and stratum living in the United States. I personally admire Nora’s great work. We need strong role models to implement noble ideas in homes, on the streets, and in schools, organizations, and firms where people live and work on a daily basis. The Song of My Heart is a perfect example of sharing noble ideas.

"Can one dream about the possibility of having five generations living together in the twenty-first century in the United States? It is an interesting, exciting, and fulfilling opportunity for each generation to live together and look forward to learning from each other. Nora is beautifully describing how multiple generations can live together in The Song of My Heart.

—Lida Hakobjanian, mother/wife/grandmother/educator/mathematician/ master’s in mathematics/Polytechnic Institute of Armenia

"The Song of My Heart is beyond great! It is Nora’s loving portrait of her parents, her daughter, and her family. It will inspire everyone who reads it. It describes her nostalgic feeling for her motherland, childhood, and young adult years to the life of the Armenian culture, traditions, and their life in the United States. Page after page, The Song of My Heart is full of everlasting memories. Some are difficult to imagine … others are encouraging, inspiring, and beautiful.

"The Song of My Heart is rich with words of wisdom, true, educational, family stories, cultural fables, and proverbs. They are illuminating and enlightening. There are practical suggestions for parents and consequences when children or young adults don’t take their responsibilities seriously."

—Derenik Hakobjanian, father/husband/grandfather/Armenian poet and writer/University of Language and Arts, Armenia

"The Song of My Heart is a symbol of love. It is the author’s love of nature, her parents, and her family, her unconditional love for her daughter, and her love for her students. Nora opens up her heart and tells her life story to the world. She grants her radiant, invaluable dreams to all. The author gives her everlasting longings free to all her readers the way the sun showers its golden beams to the whole world."

—Julieta Keshishyan, Armenian poet and writer/University of Language of Arts, Armenia

"An Armenian mother’s role is very interestingly and beautifully described in The Song of My Heart. As many other cultures, the Armenian mother is her children’s educator, her husband’s supporter, and the pillar of her family. The Armenian mother wholeheartedly teaches her children to value their marriages. Marriage is strongly stressed in The Song of My Heart, because marriage and family are essential and fundamental in Armenian culture.

"In The Song of My Heart, special attention is given to mother-children [relationships], especially [those] between the mother and daughter.

The father-daughter ties are critical as well. A father’s influence in his daughter’s life shapes her self-esteem, self-image, confidence, and most importantly, opinions of men. Therefore, the father has to do his best to model an outstanding relationship with both his daughter and his wife.

—Gayane Muradian, mother/wife/account manager for ICON Productions

"Nora has been a close associate for almost fifteen years. Educating children at one of the city’s premier magnet schools is where we first met. Even back in 2000, I witnessed Nora’s conscientious work ethic. It was second to none. She knew how to get things done. Her zeal for writing and public speaking were stellar. She authored pieces that were fitting for school-wide multicultural events, holiday activities, and routine classroom exercises. As well, she is a published writer in the Armenian community bimonthly, Molorak.

"The aforementioned writing, speaking, and service credits are well documented in the awards and appreciation plaques that line the shelves of her study. These awards and plaques provide a hint of the many hours of teaching, counseling, and outreach that Nora extended to parents, students, and colleagues. Instantly, I can recall Nora’s recent retirement gala. The room was filled with guests, representatives, and friends who echoed her accomplishments of distinguished leadership, service, and example.

"Nora’s illustration of leadership, self-confidence and acute love of linguistics remain the same today. And after having observed example after example of her abilities in penning and speaking, I am rendering my full endorsement to her in the authorship of her second book, The Song of My Heart. The first book was published in 2006, in commemoration of twenty years of her father’s passing. The book was called Missed Memories, and it was published in Armenian and English in Los Angeles, California."

—Barbara A. Lesure, educator

A very simple and familiar tune begins to play when the music box opens and emits blessed, graceful, childhood memories I am fascinated by. It helps me to willingly share the early unforgettable moments from my dearest daughter’s grandparents.

This book is

dedicated to my daughter, Anoush, with immeasurable love. It is the story of Anoush and me. It is The Song of My Heart.

Acknowledgments

I am grateful for the opportunity to author The Song of My Heart and thank those who encouraged me to bring it to reality. Of course I could not have produced this work alone. There are many people I must thank: my relatives; my friends; my Voice of Armenian American Women of Today organization; and my editor and publisher. Many of my acquaintances contributed their memories of my parents. For this memoir, they have generously shared their honest opinions, ideas, and real-life stories.

Foremost, I am eternally grateful to my daughter, Anoush. With tenderness, she forged the inspiration for this beautiful work. My repeated reference to Anoush speaks only of my profound