Merry Christmas Yia yia

Today I started putting away some of the Christmas decorations.  It always makes me a little sad to do so, and I usually put it off as long as possible.  At Christmas I use my good china, crystal, and flatware for meals and desserts.  I love these things, but I hate to hand wash them.  I almost didn't use them this year at all, because I didn't want to wash them.  Then I realized that was really stupid and I got them out.  My Grandmother gave me a set of nice flatware that I love.  She passed away 7 years ago and I always think about her when I pull out the box with all of the pieces in it.  She had handwritten a note that I keep in the box and I read it every year. 

My Grandmother was born in Greece and came here when she was in her 20's.  She kept her thick Greek accent all of her life, and all of us grand kids loved to try to imitate her accent.  One year at Christmas she called to say hello, and in my best six year old version of a  Greek accent, I exclaimed, "Meddy Christmas Loddy!" (my nickname is Lori).  My Greek cousins thought that this was hilarious, and to this day we still tell each other "Meddy Christmas Loddy."  One of them posted that on my Facebook wall, in fact.

My grandparents met for the first time at their engagement party.  It was an arranged marriage, and soon after the wedding they came to America.  My Grandfather, or Papou in Greek, had been to America before and had started working here. He went back to Greece to find a bride to cook and clean for him.  He found my Grandmother, or Yia yia in Greek, and brought her here. She had grown up on an olive farm, the only girl in the family with five brothers. She spoke not a word of English, and knew no one.  She barely knew my Papou. 

This was in the 1930's, and there weren't many working moms then.  So she cooked and cleaned and learned to speak English on her own.  She had 3 children, the youngest was my Dad.  My Yia yia was very smart, and I think if she were born today, she would've been a doctor.  She loved to try and diagnose her friends and family when they were sick.  She even subscribed to medical journals to learn more about medicine.

I am glad to have opportunities that my Yia yia didn't have.  She made the best of what she had, and made a great baklava.  Meddy Christmas Yia yia, I miss you.