{"id":1287,"date":"2019-02-20T00:18:48","date_gmt":"2019-02-19T22:18:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/giorgistaxideutis.gr\/?p=1287"},"modified":"2026-03-16T02:55:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T00:55:21","slug":"grandmother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/giorgistaxideutis.gr\/?p=1287","title":{"rendered":"Grandmother"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I was waiting for you on the steps of the house. It was already noon, and I knew the hours you’d come home. I saw you coming. You walked slowly, leisurely, and you were wearing a white blouse and a black pleated skirt. Despite your advanced age, you were always impeccably groomed. Your hair, permed at the salon, your red lipstick, your high heels, your earrings, your bracelets. I ran into your arms, and you put down the flowerpots\u2014which seemed huge to my eyes\u2014that you were carrying, bent down, and caressed me.<\/span><\/p>\n

I knew that from that moment on, we would spend the day together. In the afternoons, you’d take me into your bed, and to get me to sleep, you’d tell me stories from your life, embellished with plenty of imagination. Other times, you’d explain natural phenomena with your own simple logic. “God opened his faucets and it’s raining,” you would say. “See how wonderfully He has made his things\u2026”<\/span><\/p>\n

In the summers, you’d take me to the sea on the city bus. You’d buy me loukoumades and have me splash around next to you in the shallow water, since you couldn’t swim. You’d pay itinerant photographers to take our picture. I still have them\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

In the evenings, you’d take me and we’d go to the square. You’d buy me ice cream and corn on the cob. I’d hold your hand and pull you towards the fountain to put my little boat in. And when the string slipped from my hands, you’d raise a fuss, asking someone to come and get it for me. Afterwards, we’d sit on a bench and you’d sing me sweet songs. “My Giorgos, I will leave, I’m going to a foreign land, I’m going to be married off for a lot of money. I don’t want dollars, but how can I tell you..”<\/span><\/p>\n

On August 15th, you’d take me to the monastery of the Virgin Mary, and each time, you’d tell me the vow you made when your son, as a small child, had an accident and got burned. “And then, Kyra Loutsia sent my mother to the mountain to find an herb. It was our only hope, as the doctors had given up on the child. ‘Place your hand, my Panagia, and save him, and for my whole life, I will bring you a candle as tall as he is, on your feast day\u2026'”<\/span><\/p>\n

You loved to travel, and you always took me with you. We’d get on the intercity bus and tour the villages of the area to visit relatives and family friends. You beamed when they told you how much I had grown! Wherever we went, you’d stuff me with all kinds of food. “Eat, eat some more,” you’d tell me. And when you returned home, you’d bring me bagged yogurt, chocolates, and Mickey Mouse comics to teach me how to read. “Make sure you learn your letters well; we had to work from a young age and couldn’t.” On Sundays, I’d accompany you to church. We always sat in the front seats, and at the end, you’d take my hand and lead me to the priest to take Communion.<\/span><\/p>\n

You were more than patient with all my mischief. Even when I scribbled all over the living room with a pen, you said calmly, “He’s just a child, he wants to play!” And when my mother decided to send me to kindergarten, you asked her, “But will they feed the child there?”<\/span><\/p>\n

Every time you went out, you took great care with your appearance. You painted your nails, put on makeup, and were constantly changing clothes and jewelry. My mother disapproved of all this. “You’re old now,” she’d say, “what do you need all that for?” And then, you would straighten your body, stand proudly, and answer almost mockingly, “My girl, I will never get old!”<\/span><\/p>\n

Years passed, and when my own family was reunited, we moved away from you, to another city. The school year would pass, and all I cared about was when it would end so we could come close to you and live the same moments together again.<\/span><\/p>\n

And that’s what happened, only now there were other grandchildren added, too\u2014your son’s. So you had many children to look after, to share your love with, and who would hang on your every word.<\/span><\/p>\n

More years passed. You grew even older. You started to neglect yourself. Each time I came, I saw you more and more changed. “But, how could you let yourself go like this?” I would ask. “Leave it, my child. Life’s hardships have eaten me up,” you would answer. And indeed, you had your own problems. It’s just that, back then, I wasn’t yet able to understand them.<\/span><\/p>\n

At some point, you decided to trade our house for a new apartment in exchange. “I have two children,” you said, “I have to share it with them. Besides, I’m old now. What do I need such a big house for\u2026” I visited it before it was demolished. I walked through the rooms and cried. It may not have been mine, but it was the house where I grew up\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

A short while later, I came to help you settle into your new home. We went up to the rooftop terrace, and I’d tell you, “On our rooftop terrace, we had the grape arbor.” We went to the uncovered balcony and I’d tell you again, “Right here, we had our banana plant.” You would sigh and tell me with sorrow, “Leave them, those things are gone now\u2026”<\/span><\/p>\n

Until one day you called me. You started talking to me about an icon you had in the house. Christ’s eyes were opening and closing, and He was speaking to you. I was frightened. I came, picked you up, and took you to doctors. You followed without protest. The diagnosis filled me with bitterness. Dementia. They gave you a bunch of pills. Essentially, you never took them. Besides, you never did well with medicine.<\/span><\/p>\n

More time passed. You started causing problems. Picking fights with the neighbors next door, the ones across the street, and a whole lot of other people. One wanted to evict you to take your home, another was making noise and wouldn’t let you sleep, a third was throwing things onto your balcony\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, you can no longer care for yourself. And there are many times when you don’t recognize any of us. You shout, you have hallucinations even more frequently, and your soul is like a frightened little bird, fluttering and struggling. I sit next to you, take your hand in mine, and speak to you sweetly and calmly, trying to pull your mind away from the images it sees. I don’t always succeed. It pains me to see you like this. I search for the woman I knew. The flirt, with the sparkling gaze and the incredibly quick mind. The one who remembered everything in detail and wouldn’t hesitate to go to the other end of the city to find something useful for her home. The grandmother who generously gave away her money and her belongings to satisfy us all.<\/span><\/p>\n

I know that woman cannot come back. And I know well that you have set off on a journey from which there is no return\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Giorgis Taxideutis<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was waiting for you on the steps of the house. It was already noon, and I knew the hours 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