In Loving Memory

On Sunday, November 19, my mother offered a mnimosino in her home village of Kolindros. Let me start by saying that of all the wonderful experiences Amanda and I have had over the past 4 months, this day was by far for me the most incredible, and certainly the most heartwarming. To have Polly, Mom, Amanda and I all together in my mother’s home village, surrounded by all our family, was truly an amazing experience I will always cherish.

Mnimosino comes from the Greek word “to remember” (as do a few related English words, like “mnemonic”), and is a church ceremony offered in honor of deceased family or friends. The short ceremony is conducted after the regular Sunday church service, and is followed by coffee and pastries at the church social room, and then later, dinner at the local catering hall. Mom hosted one that Sunday for my father, my grandparents, and my mother’s two older brothers who have passed away.

I was here the last time my mother hosted a mnimosino, just four years ago, yet I had forgotten how many relatives Mom has in Kolindros. Both of her parents came from big families (Papou was one of 10 children, Yiayia one of 11), so Mom has countless first cousins, many of whom also went on to have big families. It’s probably a conservative estimate that at least a tenth of Kolindros’ 3,000 citizens are related to us.

Well, I think just about every one of those relatives showed up at church that Sunday. It is such a homecoming every time my mother visits Kolindros that it seems the entire village lines up to see her, kiss her, welcome her back. Amanda and I were introduced to so many people, some of whom I remembered, many whom I was meeting for the first time. It was a great day for Polly and me to spend time together with all of our first cousins over here--Costas, Stephania, Aki and Runia--walking through the same village where we all played together many years ago. But best of all, at least for me, was to see Mom surrounded by so many relatives with whom she grew up, or played with as a young girl, or with whom she went to high school. And just like four years ago, I was so impressed with my mother’s memory…she remembered every cousin, many details about their childhood, and could point out the names of homes she remembered as we walked through the village.

And the highlight was walking with my mother into her childhood home. My Thia Keti still lives in the renovated house above it, but below is the tiny modest house where my grandparents lived, rather unchanged from the time when Mom grew up there with her four brothers and sisters. It had been 25 years since we had all been in the house together, and the memories just came rushing back for Polly, Mom and me the minute we walked through the door.

One of my favorite pictures from my childhood is a photo of all of us sitting together around my grandparents’ dining room table: Papou, Yiayia, Mom, Polly, me, Thia Eugenia and Thio Manoli with Rania and Aki, Thio Elia and Thia Keti with Costas and Stephania. I was only 4 years old at the time. We walked up the creaky old stairs and, sure enough, there was the old table, like it was yesterday. Polly and I even walked across the street to the little shack where Papou kept his donkey, and as we approached it I swear I felt a little of the same trepidation I felt as a small child when I was scared to death of it. Every corner we turned, every creaking floor board reminded me of a time we all spent together at my grandparents’ home when I was little. And to see the happy (and sad) expression on Mom’s face was something I will never, ever forget. All in all, it was a really special day, all centered on an event fittingly called a mnimosino because it brought back such wonderful memories for all of us.

The dinner Mom hosted was fantastic—delicious fish and roasted potatoes, sautéed chorta, taramosalata, and eggplant puree—and we spent much of the afternoon making our way around to all of the 70 or so friends and family that attended. It was a long, wonderful, emotional day and Polly had many hours of travel ahead of her on Monday, so we called it a night and went home.

[Side Note: I must admit I was looking forward to Polly’s arrival for many reasons…but one of them is because I had hoped that after 4 months here, my Greek would finally, for once, be better than my sister’s. But Polly and Stephania rode together in the same car between the church service and dinner, and when they arrived Stephania announced: “OK, Polly only remembers 30 Greek words…but she speaks them all better than Bill!” I guess the best I can make out of that is a draw…]

I can't describe how nice it was to be together with Polly in Greece. It was a short visit for her because she could only get away from work back home for a few days. But many times during those few days I felt like we were kids in Greece again. It is a wonderful feeling I could only get by her being here...Polly, we have to come back again together, and soon!

Hope all is well back in the States…hard to believe we have 18 weeks behind us and only 2 to go. Time has just flown.

Yiasas for now!

Bill