the beginning of a love affair
In 1976, after nearly 11 years since immigrating to Australia, and far away from his family, my father Eleftherios, made a valuable decision to take his wife and young family back to their homeland Greece for a six month holiday.
It was the month of March, the tail-end of winter and late at night when the aeroplane touched down on Greek soil. After landing safely at Athens airport the plane finally came to a stop, followed by an applause of loud cheer and tears of joy from the travellers. It was such an overwhelming and exciting moment for my young parents at the time as they stepped foot in their beloved country after so many years. For six wonderful months my siblings & I were encircled with the love and warmth from our ‘Greek’ family. Meeting our cousins, aunt’s, uncle’s and most significantly our dear grand-parents for the first time was special indeed.
Dad proudly exposed us to the beauty of his homeland exploring many traditional villages, the mountainous countryside and of-course the magnificent historic landmarks, such as the Parthenon. Back then as a naive nine-year-old, the Acropolis seemed like something out of a picture book to me – I couldn’t believe such incredible monuments existed. In late September after six incredibe months away, we returned home to Adelaide. This holiday had such an impact on me – it was the beginning of a new found love.
Fast forward to the year 2010 – I was a busy mum of four amazing children, working and in amongst all of this when time permitted, dreaming of visiting Greece again. One day my husband Jim came home from work and on this particular day he had some exciting news to share. He was to travel to Germany and Italy for business with his work collaegue and asked if I wanted to join them … I had to ask him to repeat himself! I think I screamed the house down from my excitement. I had not been overseas since 1976.
Lo and behold a few weeks later we were on Singapore Airlines bound for Singapore. As discussed previously the boys would continue onto Germany for work and I would make my way to Greece! I did not care to go to Germany and Italy as I preferred to spend as much time possible reuniting with my family. Jim joined me in Greece one week later, once his work commitments were completed. Four incredible weeks! Reconnecting with my family and getting to know everyone was so special indeed. I heard stories from my family’s lives that intrigued me – the more I discovered the more I wanted to know. Learning about my maternal grandmother’s hardship that she endured especially during the Civil War had me captivated. I discovered a side to her I never knew. Her courage and strength inspired me.
And so it was upon my return to Adelaide I started to search for more answers. I felt as if there were many pieces of the puzzle still missing. I questioned my parents, aunties and uncles. What was it like to come to a new country and not know the language, not have a car, a telephone – how did one keep moving forward? How did one feel leaving everything behind and start all over again? I realised if some of these stories weren’t told they would be lost forever.
It was at this point the idea of a book came to me and so I decided I would write one. I did not know how to begin or how long this project would take - though one thing I did know. One day I would hold the vision in my hand!
And so the love affair with Palaios Panteleiomonas began.