It sucks getting older! Main reason is because all our elders that we hold near and dear get older, too, and then as laws of nature go, pass on.
Yesterday God took a wonderful person back home, Thea Zoe. I do not think I can ever remember seeing her without a HUGE smile on her face (except, of course, when she and Aunt Lula would sit and something would happen and they would get those "Mom" scowls! Even then, though, the twinkle was still in her eye♥). She had a personality that she just didn't smile, her whole body smiled. Whenever I would see her, from as far back as I can remember, she would exclaim "HRISE!", with her Greek accent. I would be very proud of my name when she said it. It would reinforce my Greek heritage and the fact I was named after my Grandmother, Hrise. Most people don't realize that I was named after my Yai Yai Hrise but my mother put a "C" in front to make it easier for the Americans to spell and pronounce . . . WOW! if she only knew how that backfired!!! Anyway, Thea Zoe would always exclaim "HRISE"! and give me a big hug. Perhaps she was channeling my Yai Yai through me, I don't know. Thea Zoe was an amazing woman and she will be missed tremendously by all. She led a good, long life, but that's why it sucks getting older . . . for those of us left behind, it wasn't long enough!
Thea Zoe may be physically gone, but she will always live in our hearts and memories. She will especially live on in her daughter "Noula". It is so hard to lose your Mom, but theirs was a special bond. There will be an emptiness in Joanne's life, those of us that have lost parent's know that pain, but Joanne's will be even larger. It will be up to us, her family and friends, to help her through this. So, even though we are hurting, ourselves, we need be there for Joanne, even if she thinks we don't need to be. We will get through this the Greek way, together!
I'm telling you, it sucks getting older!!
1 comments:
Well put, Nouna. I loved seeing Thea Zoe's face. My whole life she was the sweetest woman with the most loving smile. I'm thinking of Noula, but also of all of you during this time. What Zoe represents is more than a loving mother or aunt, but a genertation of strong proud Greek women who made it to the states with little except their heritage and their name.
She will be greatly missed.
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