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| By Athena Rizos |
Six long years have passed since my beloved husband passed away and he is sadly and terribly missed. A day does not pass without me trying to discern what he would advise me to say or do and to hear his loving and encouraging words.
We first met in Karachi, Pakistan when I was still attending Auckland House School, in Simla, India and we didn’t pay much attention to one another. Aleco was working for Ralli Bros. and was sent up-country in Mirpur Khas and I went back to school in January 1947, a very crucial year in Indian history.
When I returned to Simla for the new school year, in February 1947, the first thing I noticed was that most of my British schoolmates had left. In April, little did we know about the serious discussions that were taking place, at the Vice-Regal Lodge, where Lord Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India, and Jawaharlal Nehru were debating on very important political issues, like partition. As the year wore on, letters from home stopped coming. It was only, on the 15th August, when we gathered at the front portal, that we were told what had happened. The Union Jack was lowered slowly down the flag post and the Indian flag proudly took its place. The Sub-Continent was free from the British rule but partitioned into two states, Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan. Unfortunately, a ferocious, savage and bloody war took place between them, leaving umpteen victims and open wounds.
In December, at the end of the school year, the girls whose parents lived in Pakistan, including me, were sent under military escort, to Lahore, Pakistan. My father met us there and escorted us back to Karachi. Unfortunately. I never went back to Simla or Shimla as it is now called.
I stayed for one academic year in Karachi and attended the Karachi Grammar School. I saw a lot of Aleco that year, who then had an affair with a woman much older than I, and I noticed how handsome he was.
Then, I attended Alexandra College, Dublin, Ireland and later Irena, a finishing school at Peseux, Neuchatel, Switzerland.
I, finally, returned to Karachi and found an interesting job at the Belgian Embassy. Aleco and I started dating and he asked me to marry him. Unfortunately, I refused, although I was very fond of him, because I didn't feel ready for marriage.
Then we left with my parents on the SS Cilicia for England and arrived at Liverpool on the 2nd June 1953, which was the day that Queen Elisabeth was crowned. We watched the coronation on television, the first large event that was televised by the BBC. We stayed in London for over a month.
We left for Paris, for me the most beautiful city in the world and then for Venice, a historical and elegant city, which I adore, and from where we boarded a ship for my lovely island, Cephalonia. Unfortunately, on the 15th August 1953, a monster earthquake destroyed the island and also the island of Zakynthos.
Then we went to Athens for the rest of our home leave. Aleco invited us to meet his parents and his brothers and sisters-in-law at their beautiful house in Kifissia. He also asked me out for dinner and when I told him how much I liked Venice he promised he would take me there one day.
My family and I left by ship for Karachi via the Suez Canal, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, where we were welcomed by old family friends and Aleco.
We started dating on a regular basis and on the New Year’s Eve he proposed, and we were married on the 8th June 1954. We were very much in love and extremely happy. My husband was thoughtful, generous and very supportive.
After a year, we went on home leave and had a fabulous time. We stayed in Kifissia and a month in Corfu, where we had rented a beautiful, small cottage, by the sea. We also went to Thessaly and the Peloponnese to visit Volos, Delphi and Ancient Olympia.
After that, we left for Mombasa, Kenya where Ralli Bros had transferred Aleco. We stayed there for two years, where our son Spiros was born. We were transferred to Kampala, Uganda for five months and then we returned to Greece. We were warmly welcomed by the family, stayed in the house in Kifissia and our son Yiannis was born shortly after.
Aleco promptly started his new carrier as a manufacturer’s representative and although it was very difficult in the beginning, over the years it became a rather successful and prosperous small family business.
Meanwhile, after selling some property Aleco had in Athens, we bought a house in Kifissia. After making the necessary alterations, we moved into our new home and I have been living there ever since. Aleco, being a keen gardener, transformed our garden into a floral paradise. With kyr-Antony’s help, they planted beautiful trees, rose bushes, shrubs and multicoloured seasonal flowers that were a sheer optical delight.
Aleco was a loving husband and father. The boys just adored him and wanted to resemble him. I consider myself extremely fortunate for having married such a wonderful man who put up with me for almost fifty-nine years. I shall love and miss him terribly for the rest of my life.
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| A Rose in a Jar by Yiannis Tsarouhis |
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| Flowers in a Vase by Theophrastos Triantafyllidis |
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| Flowers by George Hadoulis |
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