The story of my passion and struggle

The plane lands. I step out of the airport. I breathe the air before getting on the bus. This feels right. As the bus moves, I stare out the window into another world. This place that I have never seen before felt so familiar. The land is dry, yet so lively. The city is big, yet not overcrowded. It’s good to be back to the home I’ve never been to. During the visit, I look out the window and see those mountains. They surround me and the road I drive on. Sheep and cows live freely, and there are barely any people around. Away from the noise of society, and now immersed by nature, this is where I want to be: this pilgrimage to this holy land of mountains. I take a sip of mud-thick coffee and feel my body warm up. This is my passion and desire. This is where I want to be. As long as I am within these lines on the world map, whether here in the city, or the hills, I just want this. The people of this nation are valued like a man’s expensive watch. The watch is saved and spared from harm. God is that man, and these people are the watch. We are spared. The blood spilled has been washed away by the melting ice and the rainfalls, but the pain of these people is blown like leaves in the wind as time passes. No matter how far they fly, the leaves fall back down. The wounds of my people have not scarred; they are open, and salt is thrown in them still. The blood spilled here throughout history is spilled to this day. Hope is scarce, yet my people stand up to fight time after time, fighting against all odds. My passion lies in the soil of this land. This land that has brought so much pain and required such a long fight to keep. When will we be free for good? When will the last fight be? [Asonk en mer sareruh yev hos guh guhrveenk mer gyankin hamar] These are our mountains, and this is where we fight for our lives. [Aiyn verchin shoonchuh vor garnenk, goodank aiys gurvee hamar] That final breath we take, we give for this battle. My passion is this land, once called Land of Ararat, but now called Armenia. The post The story of my passion and struggle appeared first on The Armenian Weekly.