KESHISHIAN
Gary (Garabed) Keshishian
Gary (Garabed) Keshishian
However, not all the air was clean and clear. Garabed and later his little sister, Hasmig, used to play in the dust of the asbestos mines of Amiantos in the mountains. It is a miracle that neither of them developed complications relating to inhaling asbestos.
Garabed grew up very poor, not seeing his father very often as he worked as an itinerant photographer all across the island. His mother Liya, often said that he was born with blond hair which then turned light brown. She seemed to be in no hurry to cut his hair and it grew long and pretty. This didn't suit his father, Artin, so he bribed little Garabed with the promise of buying him a kebab, and thus was able to take him to the barber with little protest.
The result?
Garabed's golden locks fell to the floor leaving behind a shaved head. In this photo, Garabed looks like a little orphan boy who has wandered off from the set of a production of Oliver Twist. Eventually, the hair that grew back was chestnut brown and very curly.
Because the family was so poor, Artin and Liya decided to pull Garabed out of school at a young age and set him to work. He showed early promise in sales, selling sweets on the street corner. In his teen years, Garabed went to work for his older cousin, Moses Elmadjian, as a shop assistant.
The result?
Garabed's golden locks fell to the floor leaving behind a shaved head. In this photo, Garabed looks like a little orphan boy who has wandered off from the set of a production of Oliver Twist. Eventually, the hair that grew back was chestnut brown and very curly.
Because the family was so poor, Artin and Liya decided to pull Garabed out of school at a young age and set him to work. He showed early promise in sales, selling sweets on the street corner. In his teen years, Garabed went to work for his older cousin, Moses Elmadjian, as a shop assistant.
Garabed grew to be a very industrious teenager who took seriously his responsibilities to help provide for his family. He was a hard worker and what he hadn't learned formally in school, he taught himself by becoming an avid reader.
Soon, Garabed began to take an interest in his father's business and after some years of practice, became a very successful photographer in his own right.
He set up a successful business, get married and have children (not necessarily in that order). For several years he prayed to God to help him find a woman who was not only virtuous but also shared his deep belief in God. It wasn't until Garabed turned 22 that he started to see his prayers being answered.
But none of the young ladies in his circle were quite what he was looking for.
Soon, Garabed began to take an interest in his father's business and after some years of practice, became a very successful photographer in his own right.
He set up a successful business, get married and have children (not necessarily in that order). For several years he prayed to God to help him find a woman who was not only virtuous but also shared his deep belief in God. It wasn't until Garabed turned 22 that he started to see his prayers being answered.
But none of the young ladies in his circle were quite what he was looking for.
A Match Made in Heaven
In 1960, when she was just 15 years old, Garabed's younger sister, Hasmig, lef her native Cyprus to study at at Christian college in Beirut, Lebanon. While she was there, she met the fun and outgoing Araxi Kapikyan, a slightly older Armenian student from Istanbul, Turkey. She was a good virtuous woman who shared Garabed's deep faith in God. "Hmm...," thought Hasmig. "Araxi would make a great sister-in-law!" So she planned a ruse: she told Araxi, why don't we go to Cyprus for the college summer holidays to sell books and help raise money for our tuition. Araxi, who always loved to travel, at once fell into the idea and the two girls set off for Cyprus. When they arrived in Nicosia, Cyprus, Hasmig introduced Araxi to her brother. Garabed saw in Araxi the idea life companion and the answer to his prayers. The young people started dating and got engaged three months later.
In 1960, when she was just 15 years old, Garabed's younger sister, Hasmig, lef her native Cyprus to study at at Christian college in Beirut, Lebanon. While she was there, she met the fun and outgoing Araxi Kapikyan, a slightly older Armenian student from Istanbul, Turkey. She was a good virtuous woman who shared Garabed's deep faith in God. "Hmm...," thought Hasmig. "Araxi would make a great sister-in-law!" So she planned a ruse: she told Araxi, why don't we go to Cyprus for the college summer holidays to sell books and help raise money for our tuition. Araxi, who always loved to travel, at once fell into the idea and the two girls set off for Cyprus. When they arrived in Nicosia, Cyprus, Hasmig introduced Araxi to her brother. Garabed saw in Araxi the idea life companion and the answer to his prayers. The young people started dating and got engaged three months later.
On September 24, 1961, a year after they first met, Garabed and Araxi were married at the brand new Nicosia Seventh-day Adventist Church. Unfortunately, they were the last couple to get married there because civil war broke out in Cyprus and the church was seized by the Turkish authorities of Northern Cyprus and turned into an old people's center.
For a few years, the couple were able to live in relative quiet and security, with Araxi helping Garabed's photography business by adding artistic touches such of color tinting black and white photos. The London Years When his parents and sister, Hasmig, fled to London to escape the civil war in Cyprus, she kept calling and begging her brother to come too. In August 1964, two weeks after Araxi gave birth to Arto, the couple did indeed flee the island of Cyprus to join the rest of the family in London. |
After moving to London, Garabed was hired by American Life Insurance Company (ALICO) and soon rose through the ranks to be the best salesman of the year for several years running, winning many cups and awards.
Garabed became a branch manager of ALICO supervising a team of sales people and his own secretaries. He operated first out of Croydon, and then from Wembley. After a while though, Garabed's hard-earned cups, which were on display at the office, started to disappear and he suspected this was because a few of his colleagues were jealous of his success. Other office politics took place and Garabed began to assess whether he should continue to be a tied agent to one financial institution, or become an independent financial advisor, offering his client a range of financial products (pensions, mortgages, investments, insurance) to suit their particular circumstances. He opted for the latter and opened his own brokerage in _____. In 1969, Gararabed's wife, Araxi, gave birth to the couple's second child: a little girl who they named Sylva.
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Garabed was very successful as a broker until the UK government passed a law allowing banks to sell insurance and pensions. Suddenly, a large swell of Garabed's potential customers were wooed by the big banking corporations to not only bank with them, but also buy other financial products. These banks were not experts in the field of pensions and insurance and only offered their own products, but people trusted them because they had a high street presence a large advertising presence.
Thus it became increasingly difficult for Garabed to compete with these banks for customers, but the death knell for the independent financial advisor came when a few rogue brokers missold financial products to their customers. As a result, the UK government came down heavy on all brokers, and over-regulated their every move. Honest and experienced salesmen like Garabed were forced to take exams to prove they knew their stuff. Although Garabed passed his exams, he eventually decided the stress of being micro-managed by government ombudsmen was too much and in 19___, ___ years after opening his own brokerage, he sold his business and started to look at his options. He was now ____ years old and that meant it was hard to find another job that both used his sales skills and satisfied his desire to give the best products/services to his customer. Those were hard months for Garabed and involved much soul-searching and prayer. Things took a turn for the better in ____ when Garabed was contacted by the UK government. They had heard of his language skills (Greek, Armenian, Turkish, English), and wanted to know if he would consider becoming a government authorized interpreter. Garabed leaped at this opportunity and began to interpret at the U.K. Home Office, in court rooms, hospitals and many other In ____, at the age of ___, Garabed officially retired but from time to time, still does interpreting work when called for. He lives in London with his wife, Araxi and enjoys gardening and working for charity. |