An Armenian Christmas Story
(involving three non-Armenians!)
Earlier this year, when I was in Yerevan for a book signing event, I happened to connect with John B- through the ubiquitous Facebook, after seeing some interesting posts of his on Armenia. We had one thing in common – a love for Armenia. His love is probably stronger than mine, as he has decided to stay on in Armenia for a while longer after his stint with the Peace Corps ended. He even has an Armenian name on Facebook – Հովհաննես Բ-! John B- and we haven’t met each other in person yet, but we chat occasionally using Internet messaging.
When John could not find an English version of my book, ‘For the Love of Armine’, at the Bureaucrat Café & Book Store in Yerevan, he settled on buying an Armenian version for his students. When I heard of this, I offered to mail him an English copy, but he would have none of it. He said he would order one from Amazon and pick it up when he next came on a visit to the US.
Two days ago, I was happy to get a message from John confirming that he got the book on arrival in California. But what he wrote next had me bewildered. John wrote, “Imagine my surprise and delight at seeing your personal message inside the cover!!!”
The memory is not what it was, but I certainly could not recall ever mailing John a copy, let alone inscribing it personally. And a search of my computer and phone confirmed that I did not have any mailing address for John that I could have mailed the book to.
I then wondered if Amazon had a new trick up its sleeve of somehow procuring the autographs of authors. To satisfy my curiosity, John sent me a picture of the inscription on the flyleaf.
The handwriting was clearly mine. But how did it get there? John then discovered that the blank pages at the back of the novel had copious notes.
As John and I pondered over this riddle, I realized that the phrase “whose friendship spans the timeline of the book” was the clue. I had known John B- for only six months while the book spanned almost forty years.
Then I remembered my other friend, John K- whom I had known since the 70s. John K- marched to a different drummer. Not for him the rat race or the mores of capitalism. He lived practically off the grid. Once in a rare while I would get an email from him sent from a public library. He had informed me a few months ago that emails from him would be even more infrequent as he was going to be, in his own words, “more out of touch with the outside world.” And I have not heard from him since.
It dawned on me that this was the copy I had sent John K- two years ago. The notes at the back of the novel were clearly in his hand. I conjectured that John K- either had not liked my book or that he had further simplified his life and reduced his possessions. Considering the detailed notes he had made and an appreciative email he had sent after reading the book, the reason was probably the latter.
That book must have somehow landed up at one of Amazon’s fulfillment companies and from there to John B-!
My mind boggled when I considered the probability of this happening.
What are the chances that a book sent to one John two years earlier would end up with another John, compounded by the fact that neither of them knew each other, but both were friends of the author of the book, and all of us separated by thousands of miles?
My recollections of the theories of probability and permutations and combinations are sketchy, but I think the odds would be at least one in a million. Nay, several million.
O. Henry couldn’t have dreamed up a better ending.
What better gift could I have hoped for for the Armenian Christmas coming up on the 6th January!
To John K- I would wish, “A healthy and happy New Year full of peace and love!”
And to John B- (Հովհաննես) and all my Armenian friends (in Armenia and of the Diaspora), “Շնորհավոր Նոր Տարի և Սուրբ Ծնունդդ:”
Abie Alexander © 2017
Hamilton, ON, Canada
December 29, 2017