Travelling back in time...

Some times we come to point in our journeys where we actually go backwards although still moving ahead in a positive way. This is what is happenening to me now. I will be going home. Yes... HOME! Although born in the States and lived on this side of the Atlantic for the most of my life, I consider Greece to be my home.

My parents, both born and raised till their mid teens in Greece, are more American than I feel sometimes. Although I am very proud to be from the US and grateful for the advantages I had growing up to be born there, I still feel lovesick over this small country in the Mediterranean.

Political upheaval, financial distress, anarchy, greed, cheating foreigner and each-other, I still find that there is the purity of our ancesters. Those who fought foreign invaders, stood up for what they believed in, hid in caves to save their lives, their religion, their purity.... Those who gave us the language we speak, the foods we love to eat, the dances we celebrate with , the songs we rejoice to... Those who gave us our culture, our language, our pride.... At least this is what it is for me. I am proud to be of Greek Heritage.

And in a few days I will be landing at an airport I do not know to take a Metro I have not taken before, to get to the city that I wil not recognize, and walk up to the top floor of our family building and take a peek at the Acropolis just before I enter my grandmothers home and drop in her arms.

My Yiayia (grandmother) who's name is Afroditi, is the root of our family. She has been holding us all up and made all of us who we are today. A mother of 4 children, all living, widow for the past 38 years, an immigrant to the US at age 55 only to return back to her home almost 25 years later. Now she sits on her large roof-top terrace and reminisces about the past. She waits for her grand-kids and great-grandkids to visit her. She waits for someone to come and hear her stories.

For now, I sit in my home in Canada and wait for the next few days to pass to that I can begin my journey back... back home.

I hope to see my family and some old friends. I look forward to meeting my husbands extended family in Crete. And I anticipate the sun kissing me and the sea calling me in for a visit. I smile in anticipation and promise to share my experiences.