After my grandparents wed on our native Greek island of Kythera in 1932, they lived with his parents and sister (pic below). While Yiayia grew to love her new husband, life at home was far from ideal. Disgusted that Yiayia's impoverished, widowed mother could not provide a sizeable dowry, her in-laws were cruel. Her mother-in-law refused to let Yiayia's mother visit their home. And when Yiayia gave birth to a beautiful daughter named Chrysanthy, her mother-in-law shunned her baby too. Yiayia couldn't help but muse over that sad irony ~ as she had graciously named Chyrsanthy after her. But as Yiayia became fond of saying, "such is the life."
So while my Papou toiled in the fields, Yiayia also worked - but with little Chrysanthy strapped to her body. Years later I would visit their ancestral home and peer into the well from which Yiayia drew water (pic below). I imagined her perilously toting her baby, terrified that Chrysanthy would fall in simply because her in-laws refused to take her while Yiayia worked. And yet like so many of her generation, she suffered in gracious silence, never to burden my Papou with the insults and endless rejection she received.
Perhaps she was sustained by a request her own beloved mother 'Damiani' had made to my Papou. She'd said, "Promise me, John, that you will never take her from the island. That my Penelope will live near me always." Though my Papou had kindheartedly agreed, it would prove to be a promise impossible to keep. Life was about to take an irrevocable turn. And my grandparents would soon set sail for the land of opportunity.