Who is Gladys (Zivart) Aroosian from Black Dog of Fate: A Memoir and what is their importance?

Gladys Aroosia is the half-sister of Peter's mother. An unmarried older business woman on Wall Street, Gladys is another strong female presence throughout Peter's life. As one of the older two children of Nafina, however, Gladys remembers more of the Armenian genocide, and of her mother's struggle. A highly religious woman, Gladys believes, like the other Aroosian women, that Armenian culture is something to uphold, but that the past should remain silent. When Peter pushes her, however, it is Gladys who reveals to him that Nafina, she, her sister Alice, and her father were rounded up for the deportation march to Der Zor following the burning down of their family home by the Turks. She notes that Nafina said little later in life of the march, but that she had a breakdown following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. She herself remembers looking into a wooden box as a child, and seeing her dead father. She recalls saying goodbye to her mother, as it was believed she would die of cholera. She can also recall the refugee city, filled with disease and death. Once Gladys speaks to Peter about the genocide, she remains a continued point of reference for him as she slowly reveals more of her own mother's strengths and her struggle to keep her family alive.