Yervand and Astghik, who lost their brothers in the war, decided to start a family. They believe that they should live for the sake of the boys who died for the motherland, because they gave their lives so that Armenia would continue to exist.
“Love helped me stand up on my feet. To live for love, to live for our boys. We are living now thanks to our brothers in Yerablur [military cemetaray],” says Yervand, whose cousin Davit was killed on the last day of the war, on November 9.
Davit fought in Mataghis. The day when the War started, September 27, was his birthday. During the last telephone conversation with his brother, he asked him to take a good care of his parents and said: “It is better to die as a hero than to live as a coward.”
We meet Astghik and Yervand in Yerablur, near Astghik’s brother Azat’s grave. Azat’s mother cleans her son’s tombstone, his sister arranges fresh flowers. “We think that our love is blessed from heaven, because Yervand’s aunt had a dream that Azat and Davit were entering their house together, but Azat and Davit did not know each other yet. We were not engaged at that time, and that was a hint to us that everything was predestined,” said Astghik.
They met through the “My Hero” page on Facebook. After the death of his cousin, Yervand wrote on that page about boys who went on a heroic path. Astghik asked to post her brother’s story as well. “We started talking about our brothers, and I saw that we have similarities. We saw each other for the first time in Yerablur.
Azat served in the intelligence squad. “At first they went to Jebrayil, they fell into the siege and got out of the siege with the help of their commander. They took part in the battles in Hadrut, Kashatagh. The last battle was in Saratak village.” The sister said that her brother died on October 20. He had talked with family members a day before.
“The last call was on October 19; he called his mother and his closest friend. He asked his mother about me and said, “Mom, take good care of you.” The mother asked, “Why do you say that?” He replied, “I’m your son, can’t I say take good care of you?” We became suspicious, he hadn’t told us that he was in the battlefield, in the midst of battles. He said he would call again in four or five days, but he never did. Then the hotline of the Ministry of Defense said that he was on the list of missing persons.
There were four months left to to his military service to end. The sister said that he was counting the days; he had big plans for his future.
Narek Kirakosyan