Speaking to One Another - The International Raoul Wallenberg ...

Sosi’s Green Eyes: Why am I different?Adil was born in Diyarbakır in 1983, the first grandson of his grandfather. Grandfather Ali was a respectedand powerful man in the village, and always coddled Adil. He had a happy childhood but also feltstrange when he went outside wearing the clothes his mother made: “You know, everybody’s dark, withblack hair and dirty clothes. My hair is blond, my clothes are new. I’d ask my mother, ‘Why am I different?Everybody calls me bozo [blond], they call me zero [blond]. Why do they make fun of me? Why isn’tmy hair black? Why are my eyes like this? Why my clothes?” Blond, green-eyed Adil is the only grandchildwho takes after Sosi, the Armenian bride.When Adil’s grandfather’s mother Sosi was thirteen years old, “They seized her, as was done many timesin many places.” Sosi, who lost her entire family in 1915, survived. Adil’s great-grandfather “bought” Sosifrom the villager who hid her in a basket, and married her, although he was twenty years older. Adilvaguely remembers Sosi: “She was a very sweet woman, a devout Muslim. She prayed all the time anddidn’t interfere with anything.” But he does not forget her stories: “It was so affecting and painful for achild. She’d cry and I would get upset.”35