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to tear up, mewling about her father in a voice that began to choke up, "Pappou was always in a hurry. He was rushing me and everyone around him. You know how Pappou was like. It's never a perfect time; he never had time for me, and God now took him from us."</p><p id="636a">We drove into the funeral home's parking lot and were surprised to see a taxi pull up to the front of the funeral home. The snow flurries were coming down in clumps and were now dusting the ground in white. The cab driver had stepped out momentarily, and the white snow covered his head and shoulders. The taxi driver was in a light jacket, and the wind blew fiercely, blowing his unzipped jacket behind him like a small cape. Two suitcases popped out from the lid of the taxicab, and the driver set the pair upright at the entrance to the funeral home. The taxi and bags seemed out of place. The taxi driver opened the rear passenger door, and out stepped Yianni. He had a pair of dark Raybans suspended over his thick black mustache. Yianni had his black suit and tie underneath his wool overcoat. He had pleasantly surprised my mother-in-law and the two grown sisters with his arrival. I had momentarily stopped in the middle of the parking lot, and out flew Janice, leaving her passenger door wide open. Janice ran with excitement to hug and greet her first cousin.</p><p id="e105">My heart leaped out of my chest, not anticipating Janice's rash departure. The icy wind blew the snow through the door and into my face. The wind felt like cold needles pressing against my face. I immediately put the car in park and exited the car in disgust as I walked around the vehicle to close the door behind her. I re-entered the car and quickly parked the vehicle. Virginia exited and pulled the second row aside to assist the children from their third-row seats. Our children grabbed their mother's and quickly followed her to the entrance of the funeral home. The children felt the cold wind like needles as they ran against the howling snow.</p><p id="de7b">Janice impulsively ran up to John and embraced him tightly. Janice was overjoyed to see him. She forgot all of her troubles and grief. She kissed both of his cheeks and blurted out, "I am so happy to see you. Why didn't you say you were flying in from San Jose? We would have been happy to pick you up from the airport, <i>'m'takia mou.'' </i>Did you come all alone? How is Stacy and the kids?" "Janice kept on firing question after question onto Yianni. Yianni had to focus on trying to answer all of her questions. My mother-in-law walked up to Yianni. She was so happy to see him, but she couldn't forget that she lost her best friend, her beloved husband. She held her smile but started to cry in mid-sentence. "Y" anni mou, my good little boy….. you dididn'tave to…. have to come….. Oh, my beautiful little boy, oh how much I love you for coming." with that, my mother-in-law hugged Yianni long and hard. She stood there and cried, holding him tight. Deep down, Yianni was special to my mother-in-law. She thought of him as her son, also.</p><p id="2590">"Thea, I wanted to come,” Yianni paused because his Aunt's tears moved him. "You guys were like my second family. Theo Yianni was like a second father to me. You are like a mother to me. I'm closer to Virginia and Janice than I am to my sister. No, I wanted to come, Thea. I wish I could fly over to Greece for the funeral back home."</p><p id="51d4">"No need to explain, Yianni. Your Theo Yianni loved you so much…. You were the son he wished he had…. He loved you so much….. And you were such a good boy…. He was always proud of you."</p><p id="5a1e">The snow started coming down hard. Yianni thanked the taxi driver and thrusted a roll of cash into his palm. Yianni started to feel the tears slipping down his cheeks. He offered his arm to his Thea and said, "Let’s go inside, Thea, I never realized It gets this cold in St. Louis.” My mother-in-law replied, “This weather is unbelievably cold; this icy weather started when my poor husband left me as if the world had stopped. Everything seems frozen.” My mother-in-law grudgingly entered the foray of the funeral home and disappeared down the grand hall to the room where her husband was waiting. He escorted his Aunt through the two grand doors of the funeral home. Virginia released her right hand from Niko’s grip and patted Yianni’s back. "Yianni, Thank you for coming. Virginia and Janice followed next through the two grand doors, escorting the two children into the funeral home. The two suitcases were left behind for me to address. I took the pair and secured them in the back of my SUV, and I scurried back to the funeral home entrance, head down, t

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rying to cut through the icy wind.</p><p id="f778"><i>'Matakia mou' is a Greek phrase of endearment.</i></p><p id="cc20">The Greek name Yianni in English is translated as John.</p><p id="c61c"><b><i>Please join Medium. Your membership fee gives you unlimited access to beautiful articles on Medium. If you join, a small portion of your membership fee will go to other writers you chose to read and me. So enjoy! Join by clicking the link below:</i></b></p><div id="7141" class="link-block"> <a href="https://thomasstamos.medium.com"> <div> <div> <h2>T.S. Stamos - Medium</h2> <div><h3>Read writing from T.S. Stamos on Medium. Be passionate in your life, fruitful in your endeavors, and joyous with your…</h3></div> <div><p>thomasstamos.medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*-dNl5FCkbEygEfJi)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="8e47" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/my-big-fat-greek-funeral-the-prelude-f655a962980d"> <div> <div> <h2>My Big Fat Greek Funeral: The Prelude</h2> <div><h3>What Happens Next is Worthy of A Movie. Stay Tune.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*s6oOymT98NSM4KJYNmrbDw.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="887b" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/my-big-fat-greek-funeral-part-i-a9364d0d233f"> <div> <div> <h2>My Big Fat Greek Funeral: Part I</h2> <div><h3>Are Destination Funerals the Next Big Trend?</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*BlNwEMrL7GPUfdOfn_k4rQ.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="fee4" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/my-big-fat-greek-funeral-part-ii-30c183511ab8"> <div> <div> <h2>My Big Fat Greek Funeral: Part II</h2> <div><h3>Pack Your Bags, We Don't Want To Miss Our Funeral</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*4UvxVcHMMnYFKxzPLERVPw.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="7227" class="link-block"> <a href="https://thomasstamos.medium.com/the-e-v-credit-many-new-tesla-owners-forget-bc948e9a908b"> <div> <div> <h2>The E.V. Credit Many New Tesla Owners Forget</h2> <div><h3>And Every New Owner Can Claim It…No Strings Attached</h3></div> <div><p>thomasstamos.medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*7rXCbzyk9-x8I_xR6YWObQ.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="d579" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/your-wife-decides-to-get-implants-31e4782372f7"> <div> <div> <h2>Your Wife Decides to get Implants…</h2> <div><h3>No, They Are Not For You To Play With</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*YkSvN3ERUIQsnyj_S6WxzQ.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="fad6" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/two-months-with-my-new-tesla-69b94857f315"> <div> <div> <h2>Two Months With My New Tesla</h2> <div><h3>What I Learned, What I Like, and What I Hate</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*OKlpugyGD3Y2Y4wbhHv8mQ.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

My Big Fat Greek Funeral: Part III

The Son He Wished He Had Arrived to Pay His Respects

The wake was scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. on Tuesday. Our whole household was frantically getting ready. My sister-in-law had a wardrobe emergency. Her pair of black stockings developed a run down her thigh as she struggled to put them on.

"Oh shit, I don't need this right now," Janice said, quickly throwing off her torn stockings. Janice yells from one bedroom to her sister in the adjacent bedroom, "Virginia, I need another pair of black stockings. Do you have an extra pair?"

"What happened with yours? Did you forget to bring a pair?" Virginia yelled from her bedroom. Janice became more flustered and stormed through the bedroom doors and sternly looked at her sister, clasping her torn black stockings in her clenched right hand. "Virginia, I don't have time to play games. Please don't throw a question after my question. Just answer my question. A simple yes or no. Do you have another ∱ῠ©ʞing pair of black stockings?"

"What's wrong with the one in your hand?" Virginia asked again. I knew this would set her off like Mt. Vesuvius. Janice lost it and exploded, "What the ∱ῠ©ʞ. Are you serious? Are you ∱ῠ©ʞing serious," she screamed at her sister. "I don't have time for this. Can you ∱ῠ©ʞing answer the question? All I want is a yes or no. Do you have another pair of black stockings, or do I have to go to the drugstore and get another ∱pair of pantyhose? My ∱ῠ©ʞing nylons tore when I tried to put them on." She bunched up the nylons and threw them at her sister's face.

Virginia was too exhausted to pick a fight with her sister. She wanted to arrive at the wake without drama. She wouldn't let her sister upset her for the sake of her mother and father's soul. She was thankful she wasn't traveling to her father's funeral with her sister. Janice was the free-spirited, mischievous teenager who tested everyone's limits. Janice had a habit of stretching the boundaries as far as she pleased. Twenty-five years later, Janice never matured but continued to push the limits of her friends and family. Virginia disciplined herself not to fall into Janice's trap; she would not get into an argument with her sister. She quickly opened one of her bedroom drawers and handed her an unopened package of black nylons. She left Janice in silence and alone in the master bedroom as she exited into her bathroom to finish her hair and make-up.

The whole family piled into the family SUV. We were all dressed in black. The two children marched into the third row of the SUV. The rest of us quickly piled into the vehicle. As the SUV slowly rolled down the driveway onto our culdesac, we all felt the dead silence. All of us were staring out of our windows, realizing how suddenly our world became surreal.

Our kids didn't know what to expect. They were confused. They looked straight ahead at their shiny black shoes. Niko and Tina were prepared to pay their last respects to their Pappou. But they weren't ready to see a dead man. They never saw a dead man. Their faces betrayed their apprehension with their blank stares and taciturn frowns. Their arms were outstretched and locked at their sides as if bracing themselves for an impending cataclysm.

My sister-in-law tried to prepare them for what to expect.

"You know, we will visit Pappou for the last time. You know he went to Heaven and is in a deep sleep."

My little girl replied, "Why did he leave without saying goodbye?"

"I don't know," Janice answered, "I guess he was in a hurry."

"He was in the hospital for five days, just sleeping. Is he still sleeping?" My daughter innocently asked her Aunt.

"Pappou was always in a hurry," Janice just repeated her answer, not answering Tina's question. She just turned around and started looking straight ahead, out the window. Snowflakes began to land on our windshield like paratroopers from the sky; then, the white snowflakes slowly transformed into a flattened discoid glob. The wind is trying to flatten the newly formed raindrop, but the raindrop fiercely resists. Then, the windshield wipers swung past the windshield and wiped the snowdrops away. Janice wondered if this is what life is. Are we snowflakes struggling against the elements until Fate wipes us away? She started to tear up, mewling about her father in a voice that began to choke up, "Pappou was always in a hurry. He was rushing me and everyone around him. You know how Pappou was like. It's never a perfect time; he never had time for me, and God now took him from us."

We drove into the funeral home's parking lot and were surprised to see a taxi pull up to the front of the funeral home. The snow flurries were coming down in clumps and were now dusting the ground in white. The cab driver had stepped out momentarily, and the white snow covered his head and shoulders. The taxi driver was in a light jacket, and the wind blew fiercely, blowing his unzipped jacket behind him like a small cape. Two suitcases popped out from the lid of the taxicab, and the driver set the pair upright at the entrance to the funeral home. The taxi and bags seemed out of place. The taxi driver opened the rear passenger door, and out stepped Yianni. He had a pair of dark Raybans suspended over his thick black mustache. Yianni had his black suit and tie underneath his wool overcoat. He had pleasantly surprised my mother-in-law and the two grown sisters with his arrival. I had momentarily stopped in the middle of the parking lot, and out flew Janice, leaving her passenger door wide open. Janice ran with excitement to hug and greet her first cousin.

My heart leaped out of my chest, not anticipating Janice's rash departure. The icy wind blew the snow through the door and into my face. The wind felt like cold needles pressing against my face. I immediately put the car in park and exited the car in disgust as I walked around the vehicle to close the door behind her. I re-entered the car and quickly parked the vehicle. Virginia exited and pulled the second row aside to assist the children from their third-row seats. Our children grabbed their mother's and quickly followed her to the entrance of the funeral home. The children felt the cold wind like needles as they ran against the howling snow.

Janice impulsively ran up to John and embraced him tightly. Janice was overjoyed to see him. She forgot all of her troubles and grief. She kissed both of his cheeks and blurted out, "I am so happy to see you. Why didn't you say you were flying in from San Jose? We would have been happy to pick you up from the airport, 'm'takia mou.'' Did you come all alone? How is Stacy and the kids?" "Janice kept on firing question after question onto Yianni. Yianni had to focus on trying to answer all of her questions. My mother-in-law walked up to Yianni. She was so happy to see him, but she couldn't forget that she lost her best friend, her beloved husband. She held her smile but started to cry in mid-sentence. "Y" anni mou, my good little boy….. you dididn'tave to…. have to come….. Oh, my beautiful little boy, oh how much I love you for coming." with that, my mother-in-law hugged Yianni long and hard. She stood there and cried, holding him tight. Deep down, Yianni was special to my mother-in-law. She thought of him as her son, also.

"Thea, I wanted to come,” Yianni paused because his Aunt's tears moved him. "You guys were like my second family. Theo Yianni was like a second father to me. You are like a mother to me. I'm closer to Virginia and Janice than I am to my sister. No, I wanted to come, Thea. I wish I could fly over to Greece for the funeral back home."

"No need to explain, Yianni. Your Theo Yianni loved you so much…. You were the son he wished he had…. He loved you so much….. And you were such a good boy…. He was always proud of you."

The snow started coming down hard. Yianni thanked the taxi driver and thrusted a roll of cash into his palm. Yianni started to feel the tears slipping down his cheeks. He offered his arm to his Thea and said, "Let’s go inside, Thea, I never realized It gets this cold in St. Louis.” My mother-in-law replied, “This weather is unbelievably cold; this icy weather started when my poor husband left me as if the world had stopped. Everything seems frozen.” My mother-in-law grudgingly entered the foray of the funeral home and disappeared down the grand hall to the room where her husband was waiting. He escorted his Aunt through the two grand doors of the funeral home. Virginia released her right hand from Niko’s grip and patted Yianni’s back. "Yianni, Thank you for coming. Virginia and Janice followed next through the two grand doors, escorting the two children into the funeral home. The two suitcases were left behind for me to address. I took the pair and secured them in the back of my SUV, and I scurried back to the funeral home entrance, head down, trying to cut through the icy wind.

'Matakia mou' is a Greek phrase of endearment.

The Greek name Yianni in English is translated as John.

Please join Medium. Your membership fee gives you unlimited access to beautiful articles on Medium. If you join, a small portion of your membership fee will go to other writers you chose to read and me. So enjoy! Join by clicking the link below: