As I have learnt, life is not the bed of roses we so easily believed it would be, and so from an early age survival became a way of life. My "roots" are deeply embedded in a soil , rich in history, drama and hardship, much like an unkempt garden, and I, well I like to think of myself as a wild rose amidst the pretty, colourful nurtured flowers. Half Greek, half Cypriot I was born and raised in a country so different in nature to that of my breeding....Wales was the choice the made by my parents...the contrast between my blood and my place of birth could not have been greater. The blood in my veins so hot, that the cooler temperatures merely kept me "on ice" during my childhood. To understand fully, you really do have to watch "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" as it so cleverly portrays the lives of most young Greek women growing up in a country far from their own, not only in distance, but in culture, beliefs, religion, and even in their roles in society. Unfortunately, not all fathers were like Mr Portogalos in the film, as there was always the fear of daughters not marrying one of their kind. Greeks are not unlike other foreign families, apart from the fact that when I was growing up, everyone was an outsider, and family the only thing which kept us together, and as I have recently established, the only thing keeing us apart. My parents...well Dad is the Greek, raised in the village where I now live. Mum is the Cypriot..from a village on the east of the island. Both of my parents have their history, sadly I only ever met my grandmothers as both my grandfathers had died before I was born. A story I will keep for another day. As for me ... now you know ... a half Greek, half Cypriot Welsh girl... could any life have started so abnormally??????
