“Dear Mom, don’t cry! I am leaving to live in the country where my heart belongs. I am leaving to live in the country that gives me oxygen.” This is what Nelly Martirosyan wrote on her Facebook page. On June 27, Nelly settled in Armenia with her husband and their 2-year-old daughter.

In 1999, Nelly and Stepan and their families moved to the United States of America. Throughout the years, Nelly and Stepan, who have received several university degrees, would think about moving to Armenia every day. After getting married, they decided to move to the homeland.

“I had made the decision to move to Armenia 17 years ago. Of course, at the time, I had no idea that I would be returning with my child. I dreamed of returning to Armenia ever since I set foot in the United States. I dreamed every day, and my dream turned into a reality. I wasn’t upset. I had set goals for myself to become a stronger person, gain more abilities and more experience so that I could serve my people better,” Nelly, 34, said.

Nelly and Stepan had high-paid jobs and opportunities to pursue good careers, but as they emphasized, Armenia was missing in Los Angeles. In Yerevan, Nelly and Stepan go out to the street and feel at home.

“Stepan has a good quote. He says when there is a hole in your roof, you don’t think about going to your neighbor’s house because it is safe, but think about renovating your roof. We are home. This is ours. At the end of the day, this is the land for which people have struggled for centuries. Brilliant evidence of this is the four-day war. Armenian soldiers sacrificed their lives so that this land remains,” Nelly says.

When asked why they left the good life in the United States and returned to Armenia, Stepan Sargsyan gave a simple explanation-different countries offer a better life and better conditions in different periods of history, but if we are guided by this, our ancestors would also leave and not struggle for their independence.

“The conditions in the United States aren’t important at all. Of course, I was doing business and Nelly was a researcher, but we are still doing that, allowing us to continue our activities here. Time will show what we will be doing in the future. We have established the Patriot Organization, which carries out charity acts in Artsakh. We build schools, kindergartens and try to resettle more people in Artsakh,” Stepan mentioned.

The family lives on rent in Yerevan. They don’t have a home of their own, but that doesn’t matter to them because the important thing is that they have moved to Armenia. Their 2-year-old daughter, Shushi is adapting to the new home. She has brought all of her toys from the USA, and the only thing she has trouble adapting to is the time zone.

“When we were moving to Armenia, we told our parents that there was a time when they made a decision for themselves and that now we are making our decision. We have started a family and believe we need to live in Armenia in order to be happy. We also made this decision for Shushi,” Stepan concluded.

The spouses hope their life in Armenia will help them show more support to the Armenians of Artsakh.