Yiayia's Journey Part 14

After that long awaited family reunion in Greece, Yiayia began to embrace a new motto: "Change is good". Perhaps as that cruise liner raced back to American shores, she reflected on the evolution of her life, how truly vast the world had become. 

So upon her return, she urged Papou to buy their first family car -- a snazzy '53 Chevrolet Bel Air. She pushed her teenage children to choose a vocation or to pursue college. And she grew restless in the once bustling but now declining New Kensington, PA. So in 1953, she and daughter Chrysanthy hopped a Greyhound to visit Greek relatives in California and upon seeing that golden state, she declared, "This is IT!" This was the progressive place to be--and in her words, that was that. 

So upon her return to New Kensington, she announced the big news: The Conomos family must head west! And when Papou promptly bellowed "Oxi!" (NO!) - she informed him, "Change is good, Papa. And that is that!" So with the Chevy packed to the brim, Yiayia and her brood of children left a brooding Papou behind to tie up loose ends. 

They drove for days until Yiayia spotted a beacon-- the bright lights of a dazzling Reno, Nevada. "Let's spend the night here!" she declared -- and once inside the nearest casino -- promptly "attacked two slot machines at once"-- to Tasso's great shock. Indeed, at that very moment he came to a profound realization about his dear Mama. That peasant girl who had once only ever travelled by donkey was a relic of the past. In her place stood a truly progressive, westernized woman who had learned to adapt and to endure. 

And so after Yiayia eventually settled her children in San Jose, CA - a lonely Papou quickly followed. And then a new, beautiful era bloomed for the Conomos family. Life in California - with its golden peaks and familiar ocean shores - overflowed with promise and opportunity. But it wouldn't be long before tragedy followed.