Day 10 – Some Days Better Than Others

by Karen Topakian

My paternal grandfather, Krikor Topakian, spoke English with an Armenian accent. He learned the language when he arrived in the US at roughly 18 years old. And adopted and adapted certain expressions for himself. The title of this piece is one of those expressions.

He would say this when we visited him after his many hospital visits for heart attacks, eye surgery and other ailments.

Some days better than others. Not optimistic. Just honest.

He passed away in 1979 and I still miss him very much.

Living through “sheltering in place” reminds me of him. He sheltered in place for 30 plus years after his first heart attack at 49 years old in the late 1940s.

He never worked again and I don’t think he minded. Before his death he worked at General Plating, the family business. But it wasn’t his business. It belonged to his wife, my grandmother, and his two sons, my father and my Uncle Ted. My grandmother had inherited it from her father when he died. For my grandfather, the stress of living with and working for his father-in-law may have contributed to his heart attack.

During the decades he spent at home, he taught himself French from a program on educational TV (the pre-cursor to public television), served as the secretary for a few Armenian organizations, grew vibrant African violets on every windowsill and tended to a hearty backyard vegetable garden. He read voraciously in English and Armenian and wrote letters and cards. For exercise, he walked many, many laps through the first floor of his house, starting in the foyer to the kitchen, the dining room, the living room and back into the foyer. In warm weather, he sat on the front porch, rocking and reading or just watching the cars go by.

He navigated the city by bus because he didn’t drive. Since most men of his age, worked, he didn’t have many companions or friends to see in the daytime. At night, he watched television with my grandmother or attended Armenian church and organization meetings. But most days he stayed home and he never complained.

So today, I will use my grandfather’s words to describe my feeling – some days better than others.