Rhea’s Memoir: Part 1

Rhea’s memoir: 2024 handwritten letter, part 1.

Photo from the past of Mom by a periptero in Plaka.

Written freehand / freemind no cross outs! with blue bic pen (her fave) on loose leaf paper at a Yeros tou Moria taverna table in Plaka, where she challenges herself to walk up and down the stairs around Mnisikleos street everyday.

This Instagram letter finally arrived after 6 weeks. Not so instant! Such is the nature of reality, and timing. We had almost given up hope, and she was on the brink of once again not feeling to ever write again. Another letter lost. But all is is not lost. The letter arrived with a strange frayed chunk at the edge - paper eaten away - and the postal stamp illegible, so the envelope itself has stories to tell we shall never know…

“Once again I take pen in and, hopefully to record for posterity, oft told tales I(in the old oral tradition), not so much to inform you, dear reader, as to lovingly relate for my own enjoyment, the saga of my arrival in this, Greece, my adopted country, and my love and sometimes tortuous road to finally achieving legal residency and, oh coveted prize, Greek citizenship. Yes! Dear Reader, I am now a dual citizen, in addition to all the other dualities I possess.

This memoir is also to commemorate the 47th anniversary of my arrival in Athens, a much different city than the present day Athens. This difference is either lauded or lamented depending on your point of view, When I first arrived both Greeks and foreign residents told me I should have been here in the 50s - 60s - etc.

But even the Bible says the olden times were better. And now, after 47 years, much has changed and shifted in the ever changing sands of time.”

…to be continued…