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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781496900562 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | AuthorHouse |
| Publication date: | 05/05/2014 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 118 |
| File size: | 1 MB |
About the Author
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"Mama Sou"
Metamorphosis Of A Mother
By Maria Griggs, Tyler Clapp
AuthorHouse LLC
Copyright © 2014 Maria Griggs & Tyler ClappAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4969-0058-6
CHAPTER 1
Innocence and the Blessings of Family
Maria thought of marriage as a blessing. It was a beautiful union of two souls in love, the ultimate celebration of two lives. It was a joining deep within the soul, and the more time spent so entwined could only be a greater blessing. It was only natural to be complete with another person, to open her heart and give all her love to that person. There was no other way it could be; for her it was the only possibility.
Marko and she had been together for several months and he had seen this belief in her. He was her first love, and the time was right. Maybe this is why when Marko proposed to her, she said yes. It was the only thing she could ever have said, especially to him. There could have been no other answer, because marriage was a blessing, and Maria loved him so very much. It never occurred to her that she could have waited, or said no, because it was only natural to get married.
After a short visit from Marko's father, where he blessed their upcoming union, the marriage took place in a small island off the coast of Piraeus, Salamis. For their honeymoon, Marko brought her to the island of Rhodes. Maria had read about this island and loved the city; its history, its architecture, and the beautiful harbor were a delight to the seventeen year old Portuguese girl. She and Marko traveled all over the island to see the big attractions: The Grand Master's Palace, Knight's Street, the Acropolis of Rhodes, and many more, but what stood out to Maria was the famous Colossus of Rhodes. Of course, the statue had been destroyed long ago, but the site where it once stood was still a place of great fame.
As she stood against the stone wall, her head cupped in her hands as she peered over the harbor, Marko told her about the story of the Colossus. He told her how the people used to believe the Colossus was the protector of the port, and how it fell to the waters below.
"That's amazing," Maria said.
"It's still there," Marko said. "All the pieces are down in the water, even to this day. No one wants to get the pieces to put it back together. They leave it there to pay homage to the memory of what happened."
Maria turned to the water, trying to picture it all. She imagined dreamily that the Colossus below the water still protected its people to this day, even while they refused to rebuild it.
"Why would the people just leave their guardian at the bottom of the harbor like that?" Maria wondered aloud while she watched the harbor. She did not like leaving problems lying around, and wanted to fix things if she could. Where there was a will, there was a way, and there must have been a will somewhere to get the Colossus fixed. "It was something special, something they once had so much love for. They believed the Colossus protected them, why would the ancient Greeks want to leave it at the bottom of the sea?"
"Fear," Marko told her. "They were afraid they had angered the gods with their guardian. When they were offered to have it rebuilt, they refused, all because they feared divine consequences."
"So they just abandoned their beloved giant just like that? All to make the gods happy?" she asked.
Marko nodded. "Small price to pay for peace of mind, I'd say."
How foolish, Maria thought. Isn't any cost worth saving something you love?
But no, it occurred to Maria that that was not always true. She herself knew that sometimes fate had a way of guiding you toward what you were meant for, even if it meant taking you from something that could have been special. That was how Maria met Marko in the first place.
* * *
It happened when she moved to America, while she was still in high school. It was the last few days of summer school, at the tail end of a beautifully warm season. Maria was not doing poorly in school, far from it. Her old school in Caracas was an experimental school that attempted to compress 6 years of education into 4. By her tenth year of school, she had the equivalent of 12 years under her cap. However, when she came to America with her family, she was placed in tenth grade because of her age, and later into a school for immigrants, the focus of which was on English pronunciation and grammar.
Her commute to the summer school in Jamaica Plains was quite the trek. She went from a long bus ride that started in Brighton, Massachusetts where she lived, then a street car to yet another bus ride that finally landed her in Jamaica Plains. It was an hour there and an hour back every day, a long commute to make especially for a girl in high school.
But Maria never let the long trek defeat her. She took it as an adventure, just another part of her learning experience, to be taken in and absorbed like any other lesson. She even started leaving early, so she could take more time to see what there was to see. In no time, she found that the school was only blocks away from Jamaica Pond, a beautiful pond that she could stop at on hot days to cool off for a while before continuing on her way to school.
One particularly warm day, right near the end of summer school, while she was dipping her feet into this pool, she heard someone come up behind her.
"How's the water?"
She turned to see a young man, in his very early twenties, wearing jogging clothes standing behind her. He looked as though he had been exercising for quite some time, slightly out of breath and perspiring from the hot sun.
"Oh, it's fine," she said politely. "It's nice and cool."
"Do you mind if I join you?" he asked.
Maria waved to the pond, indicating that she did not mind, and he proceeded to sit next to her, take off his socks and shoes and join her.
They both talked for a while, just enjoying this lovely pond on a warm day, and he introduced himself as Matt. He was in college, actually about to graduate, and was here to visit his parents before finishing up his last year. As they talked, he eventually asked her if she had ever been to the Jamaica Plains Arboretum.
Maria shrugged. "I don't even know what that is," she admitted.
"Oh, it's fantastic," Matt responded, clearly passionate about all things botanical and not afraid to show it. "There are so many trees and flowers of all shapes and sizes. I'm sure you'd love it."
"You really think so?" she asked.
"Definitely. Right up your alley. You said you go to school near here right? Why don't I pick you up after you get out, and we'll make an afternoon out of it?"
"I ... guess that would be alright," Maria said. She had only just met him, but he seemed an okay sort, even though she knew next to nothing about him. He made her feel comfortable and he was easy to talk to.
A few hours later, she waited for Matt after school, to carry out their plans as he suggested. But there was so much traffic, so many people moving around that she was afraid he would not be able to find her among the crowd.
Then she found a pair of hands over her eyes, and a familiar voice saying, "Guess who?" Delighted, Maria turned around to see him, smiling and laughing. She was gleeful that he managed to find her. She saw her friend Angie, some distance away, who seemed to notice that she was with a handsome boy. Without saying a word, she gave Maria a nod and a look of approval, and went off her own way.
He took her hand, saying, "Are you ready for this?" His eyes were radiant with joy, far more excited than most others to go and look at plants.
"As ready as I will ever be!" Maria said, just as shamelessly excited as he was.
The time Maria spent at the Arboretum certainly impressed her. Everything from the wrought iron gate flanked by two majestic trees at the entrance to the way the soft grass felt on her bare feet had her captivated. Matt took her on a tour of the whole place, and they walked for many hours. He clearly had been here many times, and was gauging her reaction to everything they came across, whether it was a massive birch tree or a tiny patch of clover.
They rested many times, but still Maria wanted to see more, the magic of this place had her terminally charmed. She felt as though she was in a whole new time and place, surrounded by so much serene green life. Matt said it was refreshing to meet someone else who appreciated simple beauty, and asked her if she wanted to see more. Maria could not agree fast enough. He told her to meet him again at the pond they met at, and they would have their second date.
However, this budding fairy tale romance had a decidedly abrupt life. When Maria went to find him the next day before school, he was nowhere to be found. She waited until she was almost late for school, then sadly left, lamenting that she would not have the chance to see him again, as this was the last day she would cross by this pond, and they still had not exchanged phone numbers. This was the last day of her summer school; there was no reason for her to come out to Jamaica Plains anymore, and certainly her parents would not approve of her going so far for nothing.
When she met up with her friend Angie at school, she immediately picked up on Maria's distress. When she asked what was wrong, Maria explained to her about Matt and their lovely date the day before, and how she could not meet with him that morning. Angie mentioned that she had seen Matt by the boathouse, on the other end of the pond where Maria had been, looking like he was waiting for someone.
That must have been him, she thought, and immediately started to remember him saying the word "boathouse," but she did not think to ask about it or where it was. She had misunderstood him, and would probably never get the chance to see him again. Angie did her best to cheer her up, inviting her to go with Angie and a few of their other friends to go back to the Arboretum that afternoon. Maria agreed, hoping that a return to that beautiful place would help her through her sadness.
The more she thought of it, the more it felt like fate that they were never to cross paths again. She started to wonder what fate had in store for her, as she got into Angie's boyfriends car, and she sat down in the front seat next to the driver.
Next to Marko.
* * *
Not long after the visit to the colossus site, Marko and Maria's honeymoon ended, and they moved to the mainland of Greece. They had a home in Halandry, which was a suburb of Athens. They would spend the workweek there, while Marko started job hunting while working a few days a week as a lounge singer, and on the weekends they traveled to the island of Salamis, where Marko's family lived.
The weekdays were harder for Maria during those first few months. Athens was a busy place, and there would always be something to do, but for her it could be rather lonely. She spent much of her time alone at home, just waiting for Marko to come back. When he did return, it was often too late in the day and he would be too tired to go out and do something.
Still, the people she met everyday were kind enough. The people she got to know everyday, the people in shops and all the places she went day to day, were friendly, warm, and helpful. They made Maria feel like a real part of the community, even though she had only being living there for a short while.
She was quite entertained by the locals as well, their customs and little ways of doing things always made her smile. It was so different from what she was used to. Over time she was able to learn the language just by imitating phrases and sayings she heard in conversations. Whenever she was down, perhaps feeling under the weather, folks used to say she had the look of the "evil eye," and offered to remove it. They would then chant a little prayer, making the sign of the cross as they did, and cough a little bit as they expelled the "evil" of the curse. Maria did not think that it really did anything, though at times she wondered. Regardless, it did make her feel accepted and welcomed, if not just a little bit better.
But the weekends were worth the wait. They would get on the boat and after a short and lovely trip, they would be with Marko's family at their place in Salamis. There, Maria spent time getting to know her new family. She and Ioanna, her mother-in-law, spent plenty of time together during these times, growing on each other in a fortunate fashion. Communication was not easy, as Ioanna did not know English and Maria was just learning Greek. But through half-sentences and hand signs they made themselves understood.
However, it was Gabriel, Marko's father, that really made the place in Salamis feel like home to Maria. A strong, clean-shaven businessman, always dressed in a vested suit, he was stern of demeanor, but his edges were softened by the kindness of a true family man. All the good things that happened to Maria recently she could attribute directly or indirectly to Gabriel. They had a great relationship now, but she was not so lucky when they first met.
When Marko first brought Maria to meet his family, he spent hours preparing her for the meeting. He instructed her on all kinds of etiquette, what to say, how to say it, when to speak and act, and what would be expected of her. When she finally met Gabriel, her heart raced and her mind buzzed. Stage fright of sorts came over her, for just a moment; what if she did the wrong thing, or said something out of turn?
Steeling herself as he approached, he offered his hand and she kissed the back of it, a simple and classic sign of respect. He quietly approved of her gesture, inviting her to sit with the family. She let her breath go; the first step had been taken.
As it turned out, Gabriel knew quite a bit of English. Maria took this to heart, as she knew English better than Greek. She wanted to be able to converse with him, this impressive man she had come to know. However, he was usually serious and standoffish around her, as though he had some unknown disdain for her.
One fateful Sunday, Marko was to play in an exhibition soccer game. His whole family was there, and she would be sitting with them.
Maria quite liked sports, and was a bit of an athlete herself. She loved competition and was easily excited by the nature of most sports. She initially tried to keep her enthusiasm under control, but she quickly lost her inhibitions about such worries. She was whooping and hollering with the whole crowd in no time, fully lost in the heat of the game. At one point, she shouted very loudly, and heard another voice nearby join in, and she turned to see Gabriel hollering alongside her. He shot her a big smile, his joy quite apparent. After the game, Gabriel approached her. "So energetic! You must really like sports."
"I do, they're very exciting," Maria said. "I didn't know you were a fan, either."
Gabriel laughed. "Sometimes, sometimes. Your enthusiasm is contagious, my girl." He paused, thoughtful for a moment. "Do you want to marry Marko?"
Maria stopped cold, taken aback by his words. "Shouldn't Marko ask me first?"
Gabriel smirked. "If he was not serious about you, he never would have brought you to meet me." He grew serious for a moment. "I would be honored if you would join our family."
Maria lost her ability to speak for a moment. Gabriel would be honored if she would join his family! Her mouth dry and heart throbbing, she explained that she would need time to tell her parents. Gabriel agreed, and told her that he wanted to speak to them as well.
That night, Marko officially proposed to her, and she accepted. There was no other way things could be.
Maria then took up the daunting task of telling her parents she was going to be married at seventeen years old in just a few months. Her mother's reaction was typical, yelling and screaming and threatening her with life in a convent. Maria could hardly blame her, the idea had been so sudden and shocking to her at first. She had a plan for her life before, and now she was changing everything. What happened to her becoming a journalist with her best friend Sandra, like they said they would do back when they were with their high school's newsletter? What about becoming a professional businesswoman? She felt that could wait, life was happening. She did not back down, sticking to her decision and showing she was committed to this path. In time, they calmed down enough that she could talk to them seriously. Still, they were unsure that she was ready. Maria told them that Gabriel wanted to talk to them, and he might be able to assuage their fears. Tentatively, they agreed.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from "Mama Sou" by Maria Griggs, Tyler Clapp. Copyright © 2014 Maria Griggs & Tyler Clapp. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse LLC.
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