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“This is the story of my great grandma. At four years old, the Ottoman Empire came bursting into her city, raiding houses and killing anyone who resisted. On a snowy night, she escaped, and would never see the rest of her family again. Trudging through the snow with no shoes, she could see a church steeple. The nuns saw her and invited her in with open arms. At first, they spoke a langauge she did not understand. Eventually, a nun spoke to her in the Armenian language. “We are lucky to have found you. You may stay here as long as you like.” Still too weak to speak, she nodded yes.

They lived together for several years. My great grandma learned she was living in a German convent, and the nun learned that the little girl’s name was Heghine. Every day, Hegine studied reading, writing, and speaking the Armenian language. With the teachers, she learned many wonderful things as she grew up. After years passed, Hegine grew to be a happy, humble, and very smart girl. One day, her favorite teacher came by to sit with her in the rose garden and said “My dear Hegine, the time has come that you continue to a bigger school. There is an Armenian school in the city of Jerusalem. Would you like to go there?”

“I will be a little nervous to go, but I will also be happy. I am very very thankful for this time I have had with you here at the convent.” Just before sunrise, Hegine and her beloved teacher arrived at the train station. They said their goodbyes, and Hegine got on the train. On the train, Hegine sat in a seat by the window, and while the train started moving, she watched the mountains as the sun began to rise.”

Context

“I heard this story from multiple people in my family. In particular, my uncle even made a short story describing her story which gave me a strong sense of what she went through to eventually raise a family that I am part of today. It is very important to my family because her resilience to survive a genocide resulted in my family and I getting to live a fortunate life in the US. Her story is a lesson to us to always be grateful for our opportunities and never give up hope.”

Analysis

This story reveals how family narratives serve as folklore due to their passing through generations. These type of folk stories create cultural identity and connect personal history to larger groups such as the Amerian people. The story demonstrates the value of perseverance and gratitude in everyday life. This survival story connects Amerian identity to family history and maintains the memories of the past. Because of this family lore’s importance in their family, it shapes their collective family identity and becomes a story they all learn and continue to pass it down to future generations. Through the creation of a short story, the varied narratives of the great grandma’s story are reduced and everyone in the family gets the same account, allowing them to all resonate with the same messages.