Remembering Haig
Looking back now, I guess it was inevitable that my daughter was going to live in Europe, like it or not. I still remember the day Emily told me that she had met a young man from Athens. She was in the middle of her study year abroad in London, and I had no idea that that young man named Alex would become a fixture in the Midouhas Family.
I’m a little unclear about when exactly I met Alex. It must have been after Emily found her way back to The London School of Economics to pursue Alex; oh I meant to pursue her master’s degree.
When I finally realized that Emily was going to end up marrying Alex, I thought it best that I find out what kind of family he comes from. So I bought a plane ticket to Athens. Emily flew from London and met me there.
I’m looking out the window of the taxi thinking that this is a pretty ritzy part of Athens. Though I was a little concerned that there was an Applebees that close to the Uregian home! But, what can you say, nothing’s perfect.
The front door opened and there was Haig. Gracious, engaging and welcoming. I set my worries aside and was shown my room. It was Chris’s childhood room. There were pencil drawings of hands on the walls…I felt at home.
One evening, the four of us met up with three or four of Alex’s friends at a local bar. Sitting outside I quickly realized that Haig was, as we say in America, holding court. He was the center of attention. The young men loved him as they laughed and joked together. The waitress came out to take our orders with a bottle of Haig’s Blended Scotch Whiskey in hand. Not only was he a regular, he even had his own whiskey!
The next day Emily and I left Athens for our wonderful father-daughter trip through the Greek Islands.
As expected, a few years later, we all gathered in New York City for the wedding. After the wonderful service at the Armenian Church we piled into a big white limousine to head over to Thalassa for the reception. Much to my surprise Haig handed me a small wrapped box. I immediately opened it to find a Greek gold coin. It was such a wonderful surprise, which I was determined to reciprocate in kind.
The morning after the wedding I was alone in the lobby of the hotel when Haig sat down next to me and offered to pay for half of the wedding expenses. I really appreciated the offer, but said that I considered it a privilege to pay for my daughter’s wedding. Haig understood and graciously asked if Robin and I would be his guest in Athens for a second celebration of Emily and Alex’s wedding. How could I refuse!
The following summer, at Emily and Alex’s Athens celebration I presented Haig with an American Indian Head gold coin. I thought that he, being a dedicated student of history, would appreciate something that represented such large part of American history.
Well, as I am sure you know, we men tend to communicate much differently (man to man) than women do with men or women. We use gestures of kindness, meaningful gifts, subtle comments about our children, and sharing of our homes to communicate our inner lives and our appreciation for others. Haig was a master of this language. I will miss our discussions greatly.