Martin Avadian, Age 18 Chicago, Illinois, 1929
Martin Avadian was born on August 22, 1910 in Van, which was a predominately Armenian town in Turkey.
Escaping the Armenian Genocide, he and his widowed mother immigrated to the United States in 1920, settling in Chicago, Illinois.
He got married, moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he bought a home, had two children, and worked for General Electric.
I was his third child, born on his forty-ninth birthday.
He lived a full life, worked hard, retired in 1975, and enjoyed working around his Milwaukee home and driving cross-country.
At age eighty six, he was diagnosed with dementia. He came to live with my husband and me in California until his passing in early 2001. The story is told in the caregiving memoir, “Where’s my shoes?” My Father’s Walk through Alzheimer’s.
He would have been tickled that the last years of his life continue to touch so many.
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Brenda Avadian, MA
TheCaregiversVoice.com
Hi Brenda ~ Must be kind of a bittersweet day for you today. Your dad would be just busting his buttons with pride, Brenda, because of all the amazing ways you’ve turned the devastation of his loss into so much help and compassion for others. And I am proud to call you my dear friend!
Happy Birthday, Brenda!
With love
Debbie Center 🙂
[From Brenda Avadian: Thank you Debbie for your heartfelt words. I treasure them and their meaning.]
Your father looks as if he had a lot of confidence. Strength comes shining through in those eyes, maybe because he lived through frightening times and survived. I’m sure you miss him. He’d be glad to know that your blog is useful to others.
[From Brenda Avadian: Thank You, Andrea for taking time to write. I do miss him and am comforted by the memories I hold of our times together.]