The Life Story of My Grandmother
On a warm March day, I get ready to visit my beloved grandmother, Laura Manukyan. With great joy she sits with me in her backyard patio to reminisce about her adolescent days spent in Stepanvan, Armenia. Now in her early seventies, Laura likes to spend time with her grandchildren, especially the young and energetic ones; they remind her of her own self when she was a child, where she spent hours in the wildernesses of Stepanvan. This small town, which was barely populated by 1,000 in the 1950s, is home to many of Armenia’s beautiful landscapes and is set in old-growth forests and wilderness areas. Laura’s backyard, just like Stepanavan, has an abundance of large trees, plants and dense bushes, along with beautiful roses, daisies and other bright colored flowers, which she tends to everyday. Laura’s life in Stepanavan was peaceful and filled with happiness; the atmosphere and people were warm and welcoming. It is no wonder that about fifty years after moving out of Stepanavan, Laura does not forget the wonderful traditions and culture of her childhood hometown.
I wasn’t born in Stepanavan, but I spent most of my adolescent and teenage years there. When I was about eight or nine, my mom, dad and I packed our things and moved to Stepanavan. I don’t remember why… I guess my parents wanted to start a new life. But we actually did have relatives there. My mother’s cousin and her family, oh and also my grandparents lived there. I didn’t know my mother’s cousin’s family though; I met them for the first time when we moved to Stepanavan. But they were so welcoming! I remember I didn’t feel out of place.
I lived in Stepanavan for only about ten years. I got married when I was eighteen and then I moved into Armenia’s capital, Yerevan.
I didn’t have any siblings. I was an only child. I never grew tiresome though, being an only child and everything, because I always, always had something to do. Kids were very busy back then. We were either helping their parents out with farming, a very big aspect of life in Stepanavan, or we would go out to play with our friends, visit neighbors, or just venture off in the wilderness.
The wilderness, trees, flowers, vegetation were my favorite things about Stepanavan. As a young girl, I remember playing and running around in the green grass, or even climbing trees. Bah, you don’t believe me now do you? (She laughs as her eyes wander off into space, remembering her childhood). I also remember the bright beautiful flowers. My grandfather, owned a large garden in Stepanavan. It was like a rose garden, yes. I remember going there almost everyday, to help him with the flowers. He let me pot plants, water and feed the, what do you call those flowers that are colorful and small? Yes, daisies. He let me be in charge of the daisies. He taught me so much about gardening.
We wouldn’t go home until the sun went down and it was too dark to even see each other. We still didn’t want to go because we weren’t tired! We had lots of energy. But, our parents yelled our names one by one and we said our goodbyes and ran off home.
The games we played were all created by our imagination. Oh, yes we also played games such as hide-and-seek, dodge ball, and Egg. But most of the games were imaginative.
Basically life starts when you get married so a significant ceremony in Stepanavan would have to be the wedding. At the time, marriages were not often arranged. A traditional wedding took a total of seven days. I remember one of my relative’s weddings. We began the day at the groom’s house. As we walked to the bride’s house everybody sang songs, danced, and a live band followed us playing music. All the children, women and men in the town were invited to the wedding. Every person in Stepanavan was dancing and singing as we walked to the bride’s house. After the ceremony, a party was held all night long. People did not worry about work in the morning because weddings usually took place in the fall. Weddings were joyous and everyone enjoyed himself or herself.
You know what I remember, about a specific church or monastery? There was this deteriorating church or castle, I’m not sure, it was a castle, it belonged to a famous king, and behind the castle there was a large canyon, it was so beautiful.
In Lori, there was a cultural center, with a theatre. People gathered in the cultural center on Saturdays and Sundays. Mainly the children organized the plays and concerts Once in a while, people from the capital (Yerevan) traveled to the cultural center to participate or give concerts and plays.
A famous Armenian writer, Hovhaness Tumanyan was born and grew up in the small town near Stepanavan called Dsegh. He was a great writer and poet. He wrote about legends and also wrote fables, fairytales. The beauty, wildlife and nature of Lori were an inspiration for many of his writings and poems. He did attend school in Lori, but he left to attend a prestigious college or university. So many people related to his poems and writings because they were about ordinary, hard-working villagers. The hardships they faced and the strength they had. Many people in Stepanavan and Armenia could understand and appreciate what he was writing about.
A generation or two before me, many people didn’t have access to education or schools. But I was very fortunate to go to a good school and be taught by good teachers. From 1st grade to 10th grade, students were educated with a variety of subjects.
We were also taught a second language, Russian. My Russian teacher was a wonderful woman, I remember her very well. I liked spending time with her; she was a good storyteller and she had knowledge about almost everything. She lived in Stepanavan, only two houses away from mine. After the war ended in 1945, she moved out of Russia and came to Stepanavan to teach and get away from her old life.
Our class played many tricks on her, poor woman. Once, our class knew that she hated mice, so purposefully of course; we put a mouse in the classroom. When she came into the classroom, she saw the mouse running around and the poor woman ran out of the classroom, yelling on top of her lungs in Russian. Our class was uproarious; some fell onto the floor from laughing so hard. She was very upset with us, but we eventually apologized and we all laughed about it.
In Stepanavan, we didn’t have markets; it was instead like an open market, where people who grew crops on their farms sold their fruits and vegetables. Farming was very important in Stepanavan. Because there was vast vegetation there, almost every family had a farm.
Work in Stepanavan was seasonal. During early spring men would start working on farms until summer. When fall came around, work would slow down, neighbors would start spending more time with each other. There would be more parties and gatherings. Men and women would sit in one room while the kids played outside or gathered in a separate room. The adults would sing, drink, eat and tell each other anecdotes and stories of their ventures and trips.
There was a newspaper in Stepanavan, but it was only two pages. We got all the news and information about world events from radios too. For the newspaper, we had to pay only five cents. After the war, new technologies were created, like the radio, and this kept us connected to the outside world.
People also received information from gossipers and there were many gossipers in Stepanavan. Each one would spread something they had heard, even if it wasn’t true. One would say something about somebody’s daughter; another would add something they heard from their neighbors.
After I left Stepanvan, I didn’t return for many years, but I did return with my children during some summers. The town changed very, very much. More schools opened. Stores opened. Buildings were built. During the summer many people opted to visit Stepanvan because of the beautiful forests and tress which was very relaxing. Stepanvan also increased its connections with larger manufacturing cities. Televisions programs were much more modern, everybody had telephones and homes had electricity, which they didn’t have before. The city modernized very, very much.
Living in a small town is much harder after you’ve lived in a larger city for a long time. But, all the same, you miss your homeland very much. Living in a small town was hard for me, but when it gets too hot in the city, I much rather spend my summer days in Stepanvan, amidst the relaxing flowers, trees, and green landscapes.
Stepanavan is a very beautiful town, not only because of the spectacular landscapes, but also because of the warmth and amiable atmosphere. Yes, everybody there knew each other. Neighbors would greet each other and chat when they met outside. Everybody was warm, kind and welcoming. When there was a big event, be it a joyous or sad occasion, all the people of the town would gather together and participate as a family. All the families were familiar with one another. Many of them were relatives. It was a good feeling. It made you feel safe.
Interviewed by Sosse Agvanyan