In my post, Kampala, Uganda, East Africa I had written:
"When Spiros Steven was six months old, to our great delight, I was pregnant again. We continued our life in Kampala for four months more, when we were suddenly informed that we were had been transferred by the company to Arusha, Tanganyika, as Tanzania was, then, called. Aleco was furious and after very serious thought and contemplation we decided that enough was enough, so Aleco bravely resigned from Ralli Bros, and we left for Greece.
So once again, we packed our belongings, sold our Fiat Cinquecento, bid tearful, on my part, farewells to our cook Odiambo and his family, to Sheila and Philip Samoylis and to our new friends in Uganda, and left by a BOAC flight for Athens. It was the 29th of May 1958.
We were offered special treatment on the plane, due to Spiros Steven and to my condition. The flight attendants helped me to prepare our baby's meals and tried to make our journey as pleasant as possible. It took us nine long to reach Ellinikon, with a stop at Khartum, Sudan, which was, incidentally, extremely hot.
The Old House in Kifissia
Aleco's brothers, Pericles and Nicos, were there to meet us and drove us to the family house in Kifissia, where we were warmly welcomed by my Mother-in-law, Dolly, Cleo and our adorable little nieces and nephews.
Aleco immediately started looking for a job. Milto Zouros, an old friend from India, had started working as a commercial agent and asked Aleco to join him as a partner. It was very difficult in the beginning because even though we lived in a beautiful house, in a fashionable Athenian suburb, we were very poor, as we had no steady income and we had, just, bought a Fiat Cinquecento, which was an essential tool for Aleco's work as a commercial agent.
My parents came on home leave from Pakistan and stayed at Kostis hotel, at Kefalari, which was near our house. They were ecstatic with their grandson and the expectation of another grandchild in the very near future. It was wonderful seeing them again and learning all the news about dear friends in Karachi. I had a feeling of nostalgia for the food old times.
On our baby's first birthday, on the 17th July, he was christened Spiros as were not allowed by the priest to give him a second name. My sister-in-law Cleo was the godmother and to celebrate the happy event, we held a small garden party for our family and friends which, apparently, was a great success and lasted until the early morning hours.
Our life continued in Greece, with financial difficulties and great pleasures and happiness. Spiros grew by leaps and bounds. He suddenly started walking, he conversed in basic sentences and was a very sweet and handsome little fellow and he thoroughly enjoyed his cousins' and other children's company. I just adored him and I simply couldn't imagine loving any other child more than him.
My parents' home leave came to an end, so they left for Pakistan, On the 12th October our son Yiannis was born, He was and ash-blond baby and the moment I laid eyes on him, I just adored him. I realised then that parental love is not shared among the children, it is doubled or tripled or quadrupled. It was a busy, exhausting but extremely happy period of my life and I felt blessed!
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