What I cook, they must eat without complaining, or can you imagine 9 pots on the stove? The bold and large family of Dsegh: A short story

“Davit, come, we’re taking a picture. Davit! Mom, he’s not coming,” begins a conversation among three brothers after seeing the camera.

Davit is the third son and the fourth child in a large family living in Dsegh village.

“Davit, come on, stand properly, people have come from Yerevan,” warns Anush Ghazaryan, the mother of five children. But Davit remains unaffected — first sitting in his preschool clothes, then lying down on the grass. He secretly looks at the camera and stays silent. Instead, the older brothers introduce themselves, interact, and recite their names.

“I’m the oldest in the family — my name is Samvelik,” said the oldest son.

“I’m Erik. I love Davit the most,” said the other child.

Anush Ghazaryan’s firstborn is Nare. They didn’t know the child’s gender initially — Anush’s mother-in-law wrote down three boys’ and three girls’ names on a piece of paper, and all family members chose the name Nare.

“The second child is named Samvel, after my husband’s father. The third is Erik, the fourth is Davit, and the fifth is Tigran. Davit is the most mischievous, and Samvel is the smartest,” Anush recounts.

She mentions that she used to live in a wagon house with her five children.

Two years ago, they moved into a semi-constructed stone house with a cement floor covered by a rug. She spends the entire day doing household chores — cleaning the house, cooking and taking the children to preschool.

Her favorite parts of the day, as Anush says, are putting Tigran to sleep and drinking coffee with her mother-in-law in a cool place.

“Our greatest achievement is harmony in our home. The daughter-in-law-mother-in-law relationship is alien to me. We help each other; everyone does what they can,” Anush says.

Anush’s mother-in-law, Susanna Harutyunyan, had lived in a wagon house for over 20 years. Before the 1988 earthquake, conditions were normal, but afterwards, life changed dramatically.

“We lived in the shack until we built a house brick by brick. We endured a lot. If the state had helped us, we wouldn’t be in this situation,” Susanna says.

She also raised three children in the shack and provided them all with higher education. Now, they are collecting money for their grandchildren’s education.

“No matter how limited our means are, one must find funds for education. Education is important. My grandchildren already attend the Smart Center, and I go with them, follow the lessons. Nare has a ‘visa card’ through which she can participate in all courses,” Susanna says.

What brings joy to these two women, immersed in daily work?

“We are grateful for what we have. We complain and gossip little. Yes, the children annoy us, but we don’t get angry at them unnecessarily. We talk and explain. Love and forgiveness are what matter most in our family,” Susanna says.

The family consists of nine members. The process of their baking bread is like getting ready for a wedding.

“I taught the children — whatever we put on the table, they eat without complaints. Otherwise, can you imagine asking everyone what they want to eat? You wouldn’t leave the kitchen all day,” Anush says.

The view from their home in Lori’s Dsegh is worth everything — mountains in the distance, chamomile flowers swaying in the breeze, lying on green grass, then straightening up, reaching toward the sun.

This family, living there, needs state support and attention to improve their living conditions.