Going home

I have loved Greece.

Greece has, for me, filled me with much joy - being here with my entire family, seeing the children navigate the streets, the people, the language, the food…

Watching my brother find his roots in a way I never thought he would and how he was embraced by every single person he met along the way, often in the most comical of circumstances.

Experiencing the warmth and care of people I met within seconds and feeling like they were family and I could hug them straight away with gratitude and love (and on many occasions I did!)

Reuniting with family I haven’t seen for twenty years and watching our children meet - my heart was so happy. Their husbands and children sat with looks of pure joy watching their wives/mothers back together with us again. One told me he hasn’t seen his wife this happy since the day she said “I do”. Such joy. Such love. Such a gift to be reunited again.

Being able to take the kids, on our anniversary, to the church Daniel and I were married in and see Daniel bring me flowers he had just picked from the side of the road for me to carry to the church again…

Zen has such a sadness leaving Greece. He said nothing on the way to the airport. In many ways he has felt so at home here. I know he will be back.

I have been in such awe seeing some of the holiest places on earth. How God’s word and signs and wonders were revealed through the land… we stood with the kids yesterday where St Paul stood in Thessaloniki and imagined what it was like to have been amongst the Greeks and the Jews of that time and to have heard him speak. To have a faith like Paul…

To witness once again the miracle of the Meteora:

- the monasteries that were built on rocks and the way Christianity could be practiced and retained throughout the Ottoman Empire;

- to see the baskets that carried people up to protect them, even during world wars.

And yet the feeling that overwhelmed me was something entirely unexpected. As soon as I set foot onto the side of the road and could see the monastery of Agia Triada (the Holy Trinity) I felt a pull that cannot be explained except of pure joy. Tears filled my eyes and I could have stayed there forever. I felt I was as close to heaven as I could get to on earth.

I didn’t realise til much later that Daniel had captured that precious moment.

So Greece, in many ways, has brought us back to where it all began - the history, the language, the faith, the struggle, the love.

And yet heading to Cyprus I feel this overwhelming sense of going home. As though I can feel my Yiayia smiling, getting ready to welcome us back with open arms.