Around Town: Book event’s choice is inspired
We share lots of experiences with one another, some positive and some not. Everything we do, wherever we interact with one another, for better or worse, is a chance to build community. That’s why La Cañada’s “One City, One Book” is important. The event is not only about literacy. The idea of all of us reading the same book is a way to foster a sense of community.
This year’s “One City, One Book” reading selection is Aline Ohanesian’s “Orhan’s Inheritance,” inspired by a story told by Ohanesian’s great-grandmother.
Unlike the other women in the family, Ohanesian’s great-grandmother was a quiet person who usually communicated with gestures.
In August of 1983, Aline Ohanesian was 8 years old. It was too hot to play outdoors in the San Fernando Valley, so she was inside the house.
“There were six of us on my aunt’s king-size bed, all under the age of nine: my brother and me and four ‘cousins’ who were technically my aunts and uncles because they were the offspring of my grandmother’s two younger brothers. We were the youngest members of an extended family where three and sometimes four generations interacted with fluid familiarity. On that day, all six of us were lost in the magic of Julie Andrews and the von Trapp children. My eyes watered as Captain von Trapp started singing ‘Edelweiss.’” (Ohanesian, A., “Hidden Stories,” 2014.)
“Edelweiss. Edelweiss. Bless my homeland forever,” was sung just before the von Trapp family was forced to flee their homeland.
That’s when little Aline’s great-grandmother gestured to her. The little girl followed her into the next room.
“We sat on her twin-size bed, my mind still spinning with the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein. She asked me how many times I’d watched ‘The Sound of Music.’ I counted to seven on my fingers. I don’t remember her exact words, but I know she alluded to my love of stories. ‘I have a story too,’ she said.”
And then, the old woman, for the first and only time, told her own story.
“What I remember about her story is this: Nene was only 3 when she witnessed the public hanging of her father. Days later, her family and all the Armenian women and children of her village were deported and, over the course of several months, marched for hundreds of miles to the Syrian Desert. She remembered the care with which her mother had secretly sewn gold coins into the seams of her undergarments, how she was instructed to walk softly, so that the coins wouldn’t make a sound. She described having to eat grass, and fishing for grains in the excrement of animals. She and two other family members made it to the Syrian Desert, where they watched thousands starve to death. When her tale ended, she patted my knee with her bony hand and instructed me to ‘never forget.’”
The great-grandmother never spoke about this again. Years later, this memory inspired Ohanesian, a graduate student, to write her first novel, “Orhan’s Inheritance.”
Kudos to La Cañada’s “One City, One Book” committee for choosing Ohanesian’s book. As noted in last week’s Valley Sun, Aline Ohanesian will speak at La Cañada’s annual “One City, One Book” citywide book discussion, on Nov. 6, at 3 p.m., at the La Cañada Flintridge Library, 4545 Oakwood Ave.
--
ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Contact her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com. Follow her on Instagram @realanitabrenner, Facebook and on Twitter @anitabrenner.