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MY WAY-
Hello there;By now you know who I am: Mehmet Aydın Eroğlu;my father was Mehmet Emin Eroğlu and my mother was Fatma Edibe Nigar Eroğlu whose picture can be seen here on the left.They were married on 12 April 1934 in İstanbul.This picture to my recollection belongs to those years shortly after they married each other.It still hangs on my bedroom wall.Why did I start telling you about ''My Way'' with the story of my parents? Next I will give you all a Qur'anic approach:
I mentioned it before in one of my other blogs;the Qur'an Surah (Chapter ) 49 (Al-Hujurat meaning the Private Apartments), Verse 13 it says ''O men! Behold,We have created you all out of a male and a female,and have made you into nations and tribes,so that you might come to know one another.verily,the noblest of you in the sight of Allah is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him.Behold,Allah is all-knowing,all-aware.''
Then in another Surah 35- Al-Fatır (The Originator),Verse 11 it says,''And remember;Allah creates every one of you out of dust,then out of a drop of sperm;and then He fashions you into either of the two sexes.And no female conceives or gives birth unless it be with His knowledge;and none that is long lived and has his days lengthened and neither is aught lessened of his days,unless it be thus laid down in Allah's decree:for behold,all this is easy for Allah''
I was born in the Turkish capital city,Ankara on 22 March 1947.By that time my parents were married for thirteen years and had two children Gülçin my sister was seven years older,Yalçın my brother was five years older than me.Our nanny Meliha who we all called Abidik helped my parents in our upbringing, was twenty-three years older than me.Being the youngest member of my family now that I look back and fairly evaluate myself I must admit that I was quite a naughty boy.
At the age of seven,I started my primary education at Bahçelievler İlkokulu,in Ankara.I was the fastest runner in my class and was a passionate football player.At the age of ten I was the third best tennis player in Ankara.My sportive activities kept me busy and out of trouble.At the age of fifteen as captain of my school volleyball team at Ankara Koleji Junior Highschool we won the city championship.By the age of seventeen as Turkish Junior High Jump champion in Kadıköy Maarif Koleji Highschool in İstanbul I was chosen as an AFS'er and spent a year in the United States of America in Tennessee,where I broke the school high jump record in Morristown, Tennessee and won the championship in Chattanooga, Tennessee where seven Southern State champions competed in 1965.Upon completeing my exchange student year in the States then I returned home at the age of eighteen and played volleyball at Galatasaray A team and competed in the European Champions League and the Turkish Junior National Volleyball team in 1966.
My life style changed tremendously once I chose to be a tour guide at the age of twenty and attended my University of Economics and Tourism in İstanbul.Time was not sufficent enough to carry on with my sportive activities by the time I graduated from College in 1971.Later on in 1973 I started skiing and started to teach the Turkish youth about the ''Art of Turkish Carpet making'' as well as guiding.In 1974 when Turkish Armed Forces had to intervene with the Cyprus problem Turkish Tourism came to a stop so my colleague Tunç Togar and myself we went to Italy to learn Italian and spent six months in Perugia as well as in Florence.In 1975 I did my short term military service in Bornova Hacılarkırı just outside of İzmir.Next year I got married to one of my colleagues Füsun Özlen Kurtul,and our first daughter Canan was born the year after that in 1977.In 1978 we went to Vancouver,Canada and spent six years there where my brother Yalçın lived.I managed his two travel agency locations there known as ''The Bay Travel Centre.''In 1981 our younger daughter Nazan was born and my father Mehmet Emin Eroğlu passed away the following year while we were in Canada so we brought him home to be burried in Bostancı, İstanbul.In 1983 we decided to return home to İstanbul.So İstanbul has been my base ever since where I worked as a tour guide,teacher and promoter of Hand-Made Turkish Carpets ever since.During that time my mother and my wife's parents passed away and we miss them all very much.
The reason why I chose this song by two very famous singers was to give you all a very short summary of my life.My style has always been about finding peaceful solutions to some very complicated issues because of the geography of where Türkiye is located.''Peace at home peace in the world''said Atatürk,our first President.
So when I listen to Elvis Presley's version of ''My Way'' I remember his gold Cadillac that I saw in Knoxville,Tennessee in 1965.So now I leave you with him in one of my favorite songs.I decided to write this blog when yesterday my colleague ''Küçük Ayşe''sent me the following video which reminded me why I did certain things the way I thought was best and wanted to share with you so hopefully this summary will help you to understand my way of eating the yoghurt as the Turks use this expression.
Next video of the song ''My Way'' was a Paul Anka classic arrangement and was done by Frank Sinatra at the Caesars Palace Hotel in Las Vegas in 1978.On one such evening my brother Yalçın took our family to Caesars Palace and we all loved Frank Sinatra live on stage singing this song.Thank you from the bottom of my heart brother for a wonderful memory.Heers Frankie...
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It all started when I was born.My students in the last forty-five years and colleagues and tour group members in the last fifty-one years who have known me will remember ''My Ways'' after I am gone.To all involved;especially to my beloved wife who has shown immense patience and love with my ways; I would like to express my deepest gratitude for having made my life more meaningful I leave you now in the eternal peace of our Creator.
İstanbul,Türkiye,4 February,2018,Sunday-14:25 local time.