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We've had hundreds of visitors over the years. Friends, friends of friends. Greater extended family and lots of closer family. First brothers and now their children and their families and friends.
Many people I still remember though it could be 50 years since we met . Most I can picture but often can't remember names.
Who was David who visited about 10 years ago? I can recall so many details but not his surname and how he found us.
It was November and he'd been in Athens for a few days. He walked everywhere and used public transport. He'd been out to the monument commemorating the Battle of Marathon. David went by bus in the middle of a thunderstorm and got drenched. He enjoyed every minute of it!
He stayed in Spartan rooms on Poros, 15 euros a night. And he wanted to interrogate the girls on life in an economic depression. They weren't enthusiastic naturally enough but he was satisfied with their replies.
Next day we hurried him off the island just before another storm hit. The taxi boats had tied up because of high seas and the car ferry was about to stop too. We rushed him across the Straits and he caught a bus....to where? Maybe Epidavros. He loved history. And current events. Couldn't understand why my blog wasn't more political.
Does he ring a bell with anyone? I'm thinking he might be a distant cousin. Brother of John who visited recently. No photo.
Then there were the 2 *Karitane nurses (for newborns and their mother's) back in the 80s. Lovely girls. They brought a soft stuffed bunny for Elli who was just a wee baby. We still have it. I have a photo of them but no names.
*Karitane nurses I think are only in NZ.
And my Uncle George who visited in the late 70s, driving a small car where he slept.
We lived in a tiny basement apartment and the fridge door had just fallen off. I had a thick towel hanging over the front to keep things cool.
Uncle G had been in the NZ army and was captured in northern Greece after the German occupation . He was travelling back visiting all the people and places he remembered, in Greece and in Austria where he spent the rest of the war working for the German war effort.
I wish I had asked more questions back then. He wrote his memoirs but they're held in some army museum in NZ. I'd like to read them, know exactly where he was in Greece.
That's what went through my mind in the wee hours last night.
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All those tantalising questions that may never be answered. I wonder what our children and grandchildren will wish they had asked us when it's too late to do so.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately it isn't till we are long gone that they start to wonder
DeleteInteresting post Linda. I can relate to it. We think we'll remember and then we don't, or we didn't ask the right questions at the time so we don't have the detail to help us remember.
ReplyDeleteIn the moment we think we'll never forget people but I've forgotten and faces. At least some photos have names on the back.
DeleteI was far too wrapped up in my new life in Greece to ask my uncle questions. He would have loved to have told all the story. I missed so much
Karitane is a place just north of Dunedin where there used to be a babies hospital and specialist nursing training. I guess their specialization would be called pediatrics anywhere else. You have clearly had some really interesting visitors. I would have liked to hear about Uncle George's life.
ReplyDeleteThese girls had just finished their studies. Must have been on the gap year. I remember them telling me about the course. They even had to knit an outfit for the newborn
DeleteI once had a visitor who had simply been told to visit me. He came with a very nice girl, and I gave them a single room only to find later that they weren't 'together'. Years later I started a business with him; with him doing all the work. He later bought the whole business, and I believe did very well. All I can remember about him was that he was ginger.
ReplyDeleteFunny the things you remember, and forget.
DeleteIt's interesting where our thoughts take us at night instead of sleeping. I was up until four in the morning last night too.
ReplyDeleteI've just reread your post. You have so many things in your life to worry about at 2am
DeleteI do that at night too
ReplyDeleteYou start off with one thought and suddenly your off an a tangent recalling your past.
Names fall by the wayside for me too. There must be something in the ethers making us remembering our past
Growing old and reliving the past!
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