My Greek Heritage

I wrote about Eric and Ann, the friends who are staying with us this week from California, in my last entry. Ann is half Greek. Her mother was full blooded Greek. I was telling her that I have often wondered just where I came from. It never seemed that I quite fit into my biological family. I am just different. If I didn't look so much like my mom, I would swear I was adopted. But Ann said I obviously got all the Greek genes (my dad is half Greek). She tells me I remind her of her mother. She says it with such affection, I know it's a compliment. ; )

She told me this story, which I thought was quite amusing. She said that she was with some of the women in her mother's family and they were speaking Greek, so she could not understand what they were saying. They were all raising their voices and speaking with so much passion that it sounded as if they were upset and yelling. This went on for a while and she asked, "What are they saying???" She was told, "Oh, they are just talking about the weather."

I crack up every time I think about that. I wish I had a dollar for every time I have expressed myself passionately and someone has said, "Don't be upset at me." And I always think to myself, "Why would you think I'm upset?"

I cannot express anything I feel strongly about without a lot of emotion. I am the most expressive person I have ever known. LOL. When I saw "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" for the first time, I had a feeling that some of my inborn characteristics might be from my Greek ancestry. But since I was never around any of my Greek relatives (I have never met that part of my family), I did not know that I was such a typical Greek woman before seeing that movie. I had to laugh. The love of food, cooking too much food, the extroversion, the loudness, the tendency toward aggressive affection...ALL ME TO A TEE!

But when Ann told me this story about her Greek relatives, it was one of those "aha" moments for me. In spite of never being exposed to the environmental influences of my Greek ancestry, I am genetically one of them. No wonder I love to go to the Parthenon so much (a Greek restaurant in town). I tell John that even when I am not craving the food, I just like going there because I feel so at home. We are regulars. The owners and staff are so warm and make us feel like family. It is a welcoming environment that I look forward to. However, I'm now thinking that maybe there are additional (ancestral) reasons why I feel like I'm with family when I'm there!