Yiayia's Journey Part 18

In the years following the infamous "garden hose incident", my grandmother Yiayia entered into a time of peace and happiness. The 1960s brought moments of great pride and much needed healing for the widowed, yet ever feisty, always evolving Penelope Conomos and her three children.
Eldest daughter Chyrsanthy excelled as a valued court clerk and now lived in an apartment near the family's little pink house with the red door in San Jose. Son Tasso thrived as a working college student at nearby SJSU as he pursued his Bachelor of Science in Geology. And Anastasia was settling nicely into married life with her Greek husband. She proudly worked as a 4th grade school teacher--helping children receive the public school education that my Yiayia so revered and yet never herself achieved back in Greece.


Yiayia continued to work tirelessly at the nearby cannery and food processing plant. Tasso often worked there by her side. From the meager income they earned, she still sent money to my grandfather's relatives in Greece who had always been so cruel to her. And in her wisdom, the former peasant girl also added a new dimension to her world ~ a well rounded, diverse social life. Reaching beyond her familiar support system of neighbors and fellow Greek immigrants, she sought comfort in friendships born outside her ethnic and religious circle with the American working women who strained by her side at the conveyer belt.

With their encouragement, the now cosmopolitan Yiayia adopted a hobby that left her children simply stunned ~ ballroom dancing. Of course, the former village girl was well versed in the art of Greek folk dance. For centuries, the sacred tradition played a crucial role in everyday island life. Greeks danced at religious festivals, wedding ceremonies, to ensure fertility, to overcome depression, and to cure ailments. As Yiayia learned from her beloved mother Damiani ~ to dance was to truly celebrate life, for each dance told a beautiful story of victory, loss, or resilience. Perhaps through ballroom dance Yiayia intended to craft her own tale--a beautiful story of survival and resilience from one forced to adapt and to endure too often.
So on many a Saturday night, she would pull on her gloves, grab her clutch, and drive her trusted Chevy to a fraternal organization dance. And surrounded by American friends, she'd waltz and fox trot the night away. Platonic male friends now truly accepted that Yiayia - though still so young and beautiful - would never remarry. As her son Tasso - my father -  once told me, "Some people are just married for life."

Though my grandparents' union began as an arranged marriage in the old country, the always devoted, ever faithful Yiayia would only ever identify herself as "Mrs. John A. Conomos". And in her words, "that was that". But soon, she would welcome an additional, wonderful new identity: that of a doting, cherished grandmother. Yes. Penelope Conomos was about to become "Yiayia".

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Yiayia's Journey Part 14

Image
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 onc e 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 tha
Read more

Yiayia's Journey Part 15

Image
By the year 1957, my grandmother  Yiayia' s great dream had finally come to fruition. Nicely settled in San Jose, California, the children were thriving. Chrysanthy - as a valued court clerk; Anastasia and Tasso - as proud college students at San Jose State University and the first of our family to attend college. Although Papou still dabbled in restaurant work, he mostly puttered around their new little pink home with the red door.  It seemed at long last, the years of toiling in Greek fields and restaurant kitchens had paid off. And so a period of rejuvenation bloomed with blessings of new Greek Orthodox friends and frequent family sojourns to the beach. The nearby Santa Cruz shores seemed so wonderfully familiar that with a sigh, Papou would marvel, "Doesn't it look just like Greece?" But mostly, the former Greek soldier and the one time peasant girl found their greatest contentment simply strolling the neighborhood hand in hand.  And so one spring morni
Read more

Yiayia's Journey Part 2

Image
In 1931, my 21 year old  Yiayia  continued to toil in the olive orchards alongside her beloved mother on the island of Kythera in Greece. And while her heart ached for the death of her father, the course of this peasant girl's life would take a dramatic turn. On a summer day, she rode her donkey 'Keecho' side saddle to the platia (village square). And she couldn't help but laugh when.. bullseye! A fly had landed right in a man's cup of coffee. The 38-year-old Kyt herian man had just returned from pursuing business opportunities in America (like so many other Greeks). The tall, former soldier rarely cracked a smile after his time fighting Axis forces in World War I. And yet as he cursed and flicked out that bug, he couldn't help but notice  Yiayia 's infectious laughter and her beautiful spirit. His name ~ John Alex Conomos.   A beautiful portrait turned painting of Yiayia taken later in life. I love the vibrancy of the colors. Papou fought in
Read more