I was so priviledged to know my grandparent's most of my life.

Yesterday, I lost my one remaining grandmother and my heart is heavy. She was a remarkable woman and I will miss her. Here is a link to her memorial page Maria Sfyriou

I just wanted to share what a beautiful and wonderful woman I had in my life growing up!

I am comforted by the fact that she is no longer suffering, she was 91 years old. Amazing considering what she went through! I will miss her terribly!

Love and Hugs,
Cathi

W&L,
Wow! What a wonderful woman. Everyday I think of my grandmother
and how much I loved her. And she has been with The Lord since
1961. I know your heart is heavy. May the Holy Spirit comfort
you! Grandmothers are such special people! They have the wisdom
of Solomon, the compassion of the angels, and the understanding of the saints. I loved reading about your grandmother. And I
see why you are so proud of her! Prayers and blessings,

Cathi. So sorry to hear about your grandmother passing away.

I can understand your sorrow. I was very attached to my grandmother, who grew to be 101 years old. She was mentally fit till the last day. She could do cross word puzzles in her head, because she was blind the last 10 years. And she was so witty. I remember when she first lost her eyesight in one eye. I called her and told her how sorry I was to hear about her eye. She actually laughed and comforted me. And then she said, just think…when you come to visit,…I'll only see half your weight! Lol, what a ham she was.

I enjoyed your memorial page. It's a beautiful elegy to a woman you loved.

What a treasure she was Edelweiss. My own mom is that same way, her mother was too. Full of pis/ and vinegar as they say...God Bless them.

Jabber thanks for understanding. Grandmother's are special, and like my cousin said, I loved every minute of her spoiling us!

Edelweiss, thank you for telling me about your grandmother. She sounded like she had a great sense of humor.

I agree Chatty, God Bless them!

I want to share with you a memory I have of yiayia Maria and her witty sense of humor.

You have to understand, even back in the early 90s, they were still behind in many ways over there in the small island. Imagine the shock many of the elderly nieghbors went into when two transvestite's(SP) moved in together in my yiayia's neighborhood. Up to that time, this was only something you saw on TV or the movies... Anyway, if you know Greeks, they like to stare when they see something amusing to them.

One day, while dressed in woman's clothing, one of the guys was standing across the street from yiayia's house, she was staring at him. Obviously bothered by it, he asked her, "Why are you staring at me grandma?*" Without missing a beat, yiayia responded with, "Because I can't get over how beautiful you look!"

*(In Greece, it is customary to call an elderly person grandma or grandpa)

I am just so grateful I have those memories of her. I will always treasure her!

Love and Hugs,
Cathi

Cathi, I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. What a wonderful woman your yiayia was and you have such great memories of her.

Love reading about your memories. My grandmother laughed, a lot.
She flirted with men a lot, even beyond the age of 80. I remember touring New York City with grandma. She was so enthusiastic; her face beamed at the sights and sounds. In our
kitchen, at the farmhouse, she tripped over our English Shepherd, which happened to be sleeping in the middle of the floor. Grandma sat there beside that dog and grandma laughed and
laughed. That lady was the cutest, little person! God bless the
grandmas!

Cathi, I enjoyed reading her obit and I'm guessing it was your comment and your cousins? What fun and lvoing memories of the good old days. I bet you loved My Big Fat Greek Wedding!

How long have you been in the states?

We have a friend who is from Greece and he also called him grandmother Yaiyai.

Sending sympathy your way as you grieve the loss of a dear one.

Cathi, condolences on the loss of your grandmother. You were blessed to have her loving presence in your life for so many years.

Thank you so much Dotsie & Meredith. She definitely was a big part of my life and she is greatly missed.

We came to live in the States in December 1995. We were in Portland, OR for 8 months, this is where Richard is from, and then he was offered a job he couldn't refuse in Norfolk. Before that I had lived in Heidelberg, Germany for 17 years. With my dad being in the Army and my mom from Greece, he always tried to be stationed overseas so my mom would be close to home, because she would be homesick. Because of this, we were able to spent the summers there and sometimes we would go there for Easter on Holy Week.

So basically, I've lived a pretty diverse life. Which is something I am very grateful for. I even thought of writing a memoir one day of my life as a military brat. Giving a different perspective of the life and how much I've been able to learn and experience....And didn't have to be rich to do it either, LOL!!!

BTW, I am going to the thread about my Dad, there is an update!

Thanks,
Cathi