Intro / St Cats
I can’t pinpoint the first time I met Ara Haig but it would have been somewhere in the early 90’s.
One thing I do remember from the time is Mrs Burbidge and/or Mr Skaife shouting ‘THE UREGIANS!’ in the car queue. At that point Alex and Chris would get up and make their way toward the exit, where Ara Haig was waiting to pile them into his rather chunky but equally impressive BMW (which later got replaced by a Jag) and take them home.
Campion
Throughout the Campion years, even though Ara Haig had his own considerable issues to deal with, he did a great job of single-handedly raising what would end up becoming two very successful and accomplished adults. Definitely an achievement to be proud of.
At the time, particularly at that age, school friends and their parents were always separate entities. Parents were a figure of authority who were supposed to keep things in order while your friends were your source of having fun and breaking the rules. With Ara Haig, however, the aforementioned ‘authority’ was directed elsewhere. Instead of chastising us for not doing our homework, he’d have a go if we didn’t pull our weight with γκομενες or make our presence felt in the proverbial πιάτσα – more on that later.
I think it’s safe to say that Haig did a good job of blurring the lines between parent and friend. From a young age I grew to see him as a bit of both rather than just one or the other. He’d keep things in order where required but he was also the older, wiser friend you could hang out with for advice and direction as well as a game of τάβλι με φραπεδια και τσιγαράκι (usually in the basement area next to the pool room at the legendary Δρυαδων address)
The first foundations or Ara Haig’s ‘legacy’ were when I used to call 6209185 (before the 210 days) and Ara Haig would pick up. When I’d ask for Chris he’d usually call him and stretch the ‘i’, making it sound like Chreeeees. To this day we still call him that!
Work
The summer after my GCSE’s I got my first ‘job’ at Παντελίδης Books. Whilst it was good to get paid for just showing up, it didn’t teach much about responsibility and actual WORK. That probably explains why I ended up dropping out of my first year of uni after one term. Luckily Ara Haig was there to give me a much needed return to reality by taking me to work in his οικοδομή in Ηράκλειο. Even though it was only a short stint, getting up at 6 and doing some real work actually had a more profound effect on me than one would expect. The ‘boss’ son’ status was definitely beaten out of me and a bit of hard graft actually proved a very useful lesson. As a result the John that went back to uni didn’t drop out, managed to walk out with a 2:1 and had a different job every year. Brannigans, , WH Smiths and HMV are all grateful to Ara Haig for providing them with such a hard worker!
So aside from a parent figure / friend Ara Haig was also my first employer who taught me a very valuable lesson! Who knows where I’d be if he hadn’t come along when he did. I’ve never actually told anyone this to this day. Shame I never said it to him!
Definitely worth mentioning that one day when Ara Haig was driving me to the οικοδομή we had a chat που θα έμενε στην ιστορία! Something about γκόμενες and the πιάτσα which we tended to avoid for no valid reason.
2005-2010
After uni we all went our different ways so contact inevitably grew more sparse. The good memories however kept coming. Θυμάμαι κάποιες στιγμές που I’d be In Δρυαδων, Chris would fall asleep so I’d go and get into rather heated τάβλι sessions with Ara Haig. He was the only parent that could give me so many μπινελίκια without sounding offensive, although there were times I was extremely κωλοφαρδος and thought he genuinely (albeit temporarily) hated me!
In 2008 I met Kasia who, as you might remember, went on to become my wife. About 3 months after making the mistake of dating me she decided to come to join me in Greece for Christmas. As they say, first impressions count. Luckily, Ara Haig was there to throw me a first impression- boosting- bone with his legendary boxing day parties. Kasia still had good memories of that night l, as she did the next year. There was also a night at a restaurant in Χαλάνδρι called Ζύθος the night before we flew back in December 2009. O Ara Haig μας τίμησε με την παρουσία του and he also kept me in check when I had a bit too much to drink and was a little bit… ungentlemanly toward Kasia.
The 10s
The 10’s were more of a ‘quality over quantity’ decade. Meetings with Ara Haig were few and far apart but one particular memory seems to have stayed with me.
- I remember feeling a bit nostalgic around the Christmas period a few years ago so I started calling a few friends in Greece hoping to catch them at home. In most cases I ran into their parents. Ara Haig was one of these cases and we ended up having quite a long chat. It was really nice to catch up and to this day I still remember the conversation. More ‘adult stuff’ this time round and less πιάτσα talk. There was also a stark warning that since I had miraculously managed to get myself a good woman, I needed to make sure ‘να μην κάνω καμιά μαλακια’ otherwise I’d have to answer to him. Duly noted!
- My last interaction with Ara Haig was at Alex’s House in Farringdon. I had gone there for a visit and Ara Haig was on a video call. Despite the horrendous signal we managed to exchange a few words before our communication got drowned in cyberspace.
Bucket List
Had I known what fate had in store, I definitely would have made some more contact, built a few more memories and ticked a few more things off the below list. As it it stands, however, all I can do now is list the things I wish I’d managed to do but didn’t, aside from taking a ride in the Jag which would have been nice but not as important as the below.
- My biggest regret is that Keila never got to meet him. It’s also a shame he won’t get to meet the twins.
- I would have liked another τάβλι session at the basement in Δρυαδων (minus the τσιγάρα)
- Would also have liked another boxing day party. I was actually in Greece for Christmas in 2016 but annoyingly I left on boxing day!
