Thank You/Susanna Mkrtchyan

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My grandchildren call me Wiki Tatik: Armenian for "Wiki Grandma." They think I'm obsessed with Wikipedia. But it's because of them I'm so invested in Wikipedia's success.
My grandson is 12 years old, and he loves basketball. But Armenian Wikipedia didn’t have much to say about his favorite players. He kept sending me little articles to add. Until finally, I said, “Enough is enough. Let’s get you an account.”

Now, my grandson is a Wikipedia editor. And so is his twin brother.

I work as a scientist in the field of systems research... and I’m also a mother, a grandmother, and a wife, with responsibilities at home. It’s my job to prepare the meals. So I station myself in the kitchen, with my cooking and my computer. When I'm not stirring the soup, I'm working on Wikipedia.

Sometimes it makes my husband crazy. Luckily, he understands how important Wikipedia is to me.

Here’s the truth. I won't always be around to serve my children's favorite meals. But through Wikipedia, I can leave them &mdash; and their grandchildren &mdash; a little of what I know.

Are you a parent? A grandparent? Then please, join me in supporting Wikipedia. One day, the kids will understand.

 &mdash; Susanna Mkrtchyan

''Susanna Mkrtchyan lives in Yerevan, Armenia, where she puts her Ph.D. in Technical Sciences to good use as researcher at the Institute of Informatics and Automation Problems. In fact, her work first drew her to Wikipedia. Through Wikipedia, and projects like it, she hopes to help create a collaborative, problem-solving environment for Armenian-speaking scientists all over the world. Her husband is also a scientist; together they have two sons and five grandchildren.''

Image Attribution: by Karen Sayre, under [//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported], from Wikimedia Commons.