He Calls Me Redeemed
You might say Arman Kaymakcian has had a taste of just about every kind of life possible. He was born in New Jersey, but his parents were Italian and Armenian. He had a terrific childhood filled with adventure, fun, and love…until he was ten.
That’s when the sexual abuse by someone close to the family began and his life changed.
First it was going through adolescence and teen years with ongoing abuse. Then it was trying to cut himself off from everybody. Then the solace in drugs, the need to sell them to use them. Then it was the problems in high school that made him drop out and look to make a living through odd jobs.
Arman found the talent as a carpet installer he had learned from his father could get him a job to let him pay the rent for his own apartment.
He found a place in Neptune, convenient to a crowd that would buy his drugs and enable him to try, and become addicted to prescription drugs, cocaine, PCP, ecstasy and then finally heroin.
From there it went to the hopeless times, the suicidal thoughts…and the coincidence that wasn’t really a coincidence. Everything happens for a reason.
Arman picked up a Bible and read Psalm 88. That was enough to get him, first down on his knees then in a psych ward at Monmouth Medial Center, help for his body and prayers on his lips to save his life.
That’s when the new chapters of his life began.
That Psalm 88 starts with “Lord, you are the God who saves me,” then admits, like Arman, “I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death.” It continues “ You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths… Your wrath lies heavily on me;….you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.” But it ends with “I call to you, Lord, every day…..I cry to you for help, Lord…
The full story of Arman is included in his biography and first book, “He Calls Me Redeemed,” in which he explores his past at the intersection of faith, addiction, abuse, family, culture, and death. The book is a blend of how the cultures of his heritage clashed with his Jersey Shore life style and how while he looked up to and revered his father, he had no idea of his father’s own tragic secret until he recognized how his father’s personal struggles were a precursor of his own life that hit rock bottom.
A heart wrenching story. Its excellence comes from the author’s ability to lay out the harsh cold facts as they were and are. The book ends on a happy note knowing Arman has overcome a past that will forever haunt him, a lifetime of struggling against the crime and wretchedness he had thrown himself into, and finally the joys and happiness, to say nothing of security and a future that he enjoys because of his own ability to fight his own evils.
Arman cleverly channels the various parts of his life into separate ‘rooms’ in his life house, each room filled with the horror, sadness, frustrations, grief, religion, history or love found in each corner of that particular room.
The book is truly one of hope, faith, and belief in one’s self. Now married with two children, Arman lives in the Colts Neck area and regularly attends the Community Church in the township, grateful he indeed has overcome demons. Finally achieved his high school diploma, attended Brookdale College and has a job he’s held down for more than ten years.
He’s also working on a couple more books, one a short novel, the other a book of poetry.
“He Calls Me Redeemed” by Arman Kaymakcian is available on Amazon and in local book stores.
