One of Us

After receiving the photograph of my great grandmother Anna from my uncle last month, I remembered an obituary from 2021 for my father's first cousin Barbara Bazilian, who was Anna's granddaughter. Barbara's son Eric Bazilian was quoted in the obituary, so I looked him up on the internets and sent him a message that included the photographs of our mutual great grandparents.

My suspicions that the musical genes in the Fine family came to us through Anna might indeed be justified.

Shortly after he got the message the two of us had an amazing talk via FaceTime. It was as if we had always known one another. Eric, who spent much of his life in the Fine family "hub" of Philadelphia, knew our great grandfather Joseph, but he didn't know our great grandmother. She died in 1953, the year Eric was born.

Eric told me about his adventures in music. His are in a realm very different from mine. Eric played (and still plays) in a rock band, and he wrote a song that was a huge hit. Eric sang it for me, but I didn't recognize it. He told me that I was the first person he had met who didn't know the song. 

During the 1990s I was totally occupied with our very small children (born in 1987 and 1989) and working at radio station. At work I listened to the music that I played on the radio, and at home it was cassettes of kid music (dominated by Sharon, Lois, and Bram). 

In 1995 I started playing violin again, and once the kids went to bed my musical entertainment for the rest of the decade was practicing.

Once I heard the song (I listened right after that FaceTime call with Eric), I couldn't get it out of my head. I understand completely why it was so popular and continues to be popular around the world. I am so very proud of my second cousin once removed.



Everyone I have told the story to immediately recognized "One Of Us," particularly our kids. It turns out that Eric's song has long been a favorite of theirs, because they grew up in the 1990s, when it was everywhere (except where I was).