Rasit Hosgor
I remember uncle Muzaffer from 1955 -1956 when he was a successfull doctor in our hometown Civril, Turkey. There was always a que in front of his office. While uncle was busy with his patients, I was spending lots of time with my dear aunt Rosita; she was teaching me English and I was teaching her Turkish words, being a six-year boy at the time. I loved the company of both my uncle and my aunt. My next encounter with them was in Izmir, after Alex was born. My family visited them to congratulate for the birth of Alex. It was summertime and uncle Muzaffer took us to the International Fair in Izmir. It was a wonderfull evening. Uncle and I flew an airplane(!) and rode a toy car. My memories about that evening are still so vivid. Then, uncle and his family moved and settled in California. Uncle Muzaffer kept visiting his family in Turkey every two years. During the years 1967-1968 I was an exchange student, living in Michigan with an american host family. During the Christmas vacation of 1967, uncle Muzaffer invited me and my american family to Lancaster, California, where he was practicing medicine as a cardiologist. I spent that Christmas with my uncle’s family. I was 17, Alex was 10 and Alp only 5 years old. I was again very happy with them. Uncle was very generous: he bought my airplane tickets and gave me $100 (it was at that time a very substantial amount for a student, who received from AFS a check of $12/month as pocket money.)He came with his wife, two sons and Carmen (the sister of aunt Rosita from Puerto Rico) to Turkey in early 70’s. It was a very important event for all the family and we spent wonderfull time; we all took a boat trip from Izmir to Antalya, a coastal town in the Mediterrenean Sea. I kept visiting uncle and his family in Los Angeles, starting from 1983 during my business trips ro the USA; these visits made me and them very happy. My last visit of my uncle, Alex and Alp was in the autmn of 2016, accompanied by my wife. Uncle, Alp, my wife and myself spent a very enchanting evening in an Argentinian restaurant. Uncle sang a song that night in Turkish and the entire guests in the restaurant applauded for a long time! Dear Uncle, !!Thank you for everything and most of all for encouring me to read and learn avidly, by calling me Rasit Hoca ( meaning: teacher) since my childhood!!! Yours always with love and admiration, Rasit Hosgor