To a friend in the village

The sea of Corfu between Ano Korakiana and Mother Greece

Αγαπητή Αγγελική.
In Ano Korakiana bereavement has been heaped on bereavement. We are foreigners who have a home in the village, but even, far away, we grieve for the loss of two young people in the prime of their lives, for their absence. We have compassion for their families. We're sad for the whole village. I ache.
Now that T. has no heart to write more or create more images of Ano Korakiana for the village website (how, too well, we understand why!), the village story is not being told in public or on the internet. It's surely told inside the village, but not outside.
Now that Ano Korakiana’s wonderful Summer cultural events - concerts especially - have been formally cancelled to mourn the terrible loss of Melina and Yianni, who recounts the life of Ano Korakiana? Who reminds us of local history? Who tells of parties held? Who reports your work recycling our village waste? Who shows us the ceremonies, prayers and celebrations led by Pappa Evthokimos and his treasured congregation?

Ano Korakiana's Church of St George for the Epiphany on 7th January 2018

Who will write about the leadership of the new Mayor, Stavros Savannis, starting this September? Who speaks of christenings and marriages as well as deaths? Who records the events of Christmas and New Year? Who reminds us of village artists? Who records the playing of the Philharmonica Korakiana? Who describes how villagers commemorate Επέτειος του Όχι?

Korakianas celebrate Oxi Day on 28th October 2018 - the Greek equivalent of Britain's 11th November

Who is now the ‘town crier’ for Ano Korakiana? You may have an important part to play as the story-teller of Ano Korakiana, Angeliki. Μπορεί να διαδραματίζετε ένα σημαντικό ρόλο για να παίξετε ως ιστορικός της Άνω Κορακιάνας.
Much love from Linda and Simon
Forgive us for these comments if we have offended. Ano Korakiana needs to mourn. Φωνὴ ἐν Ῥαμὰ ἠκούσθη, κλαυθμὸς καὶ ὀδυρμὸς πολύς· Ῥαχὴλ κλαίουσα τὰ τέκνα αὐτῆς, καὶ οὐκ ἤθελεν παρακληθῆναι ὅτι οὐκ εἰσίν.
Πολλή αγάπη, Σαίμον και Λίντα ΧΧΧ

Awaiting the Resurrection - την Ανάσταση - in Ano Korakiana

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In 1995, after 30 years, I came back to Greece with my family...

Bringing my family to beloved Greece

Standing in the cockpit of our Airbus (full of screens and no joystick) where passengers could – pre-9/11 – still be invited for a pilot’s glimpse of the world ahead, I stood behind my family, as with Linda, Richard and Amy, we flew high over the border of Greece; able to see, to port, the glow of Thessaloniki; ahead the greater glow of Athens; to starboard a moonlit Ionian Sea and far below, in inky blackness, clusters of tiny glittering diamonds - villages in the foothills of the Pindos.
“Children! There’s Greece”
In the dim cabin tears welled from my eyes with the delight – and the idea – of sharing ‘my’ Greece with my wife and children. I could not speak for a moment, and Linda, more English than I, was irritated at me.