As usual... I was at the gallery this morning and someone interesting walked in...Her name was Hasmik... she looked about 96 years old, slight hunchback, white hair, years of age on her face, very short, but well dressed, and carrying two heavy, plastic bags of groceries. She passed by slowly... stopped by the window... it looked as though she was kneeling down, but when she walked in, I realized that was her posture. She walked towards me... and said, "Hello, are you Armenian?" as she tried smiling through her wrinkles... I smiled back and said (in Armenian) "yes, I am..." She came towards me and brought her face very close to mine and said, "What is this place?" I answered "it's an art gallery where we show different kinds of art..."
"Oh, an art gallery" she said, as she took a step back. "Is this your work? I thought you sell curtains here, because I saw the curtains first..." I replied, "No, no curtains..." as I laughed. "This is not my work, it's a photographer's work... but, I draw here too..." She looked down at me and said, "Oh, you draw?... that's good... my name is Hasmik... how old are you?" I answered, "I'm 25..." looking surprised, she said, "and you're not married?" I smiled and answered, "Engaged... " She nodded her head and said, "Is he Persian Armenian?" I replied, "yes, he is... but, most important, he's a good guy..." she nodded her head and said, "yes, you're a smart girl... as long as he's a good guy, it doesn't matter... well... I don't want to be a bother, so, I'm going to go... I had a good painting, but I don't have it anymore... my daughter took it!" as she made a frowning face and started walking towards the door. "I could've brought it here to show you, but I don't have it anymore... she took it... she was going to take it when I died, so, she decided to take it earlier..." and, then... she was gone... she just walked out like she had never walked in... carrying her bags, hunched... I just looked at her walk away and thought, "Bye Hasmik..."
Tip of the Day: Listen to people talk, even if they sound a bit odd... sometimes, people just want to be heard.
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