In my role as a walking guide on Kythira, I meet many people who visit Kythira for a special reason. During our guided walk through Potamos yesterday, Pauline Coroneos told me that her late parents were from Kythira. Many decades ago they emigrated from Kythira to Australia. It was the first time that Pauline had visited Kythira and she wanted to find out as much as possible about her family roots. Her mother had lived in Potamos, near Agia Triada, and had married in that church.
When we arrived at the Agia Triada, we met Manolis Zantiotis who was repairing a piece of furniture in his workshop, located next to the church. As always, I asked Manolis to open the church for us and I told him about Pauline’s family history. The 80-year old Manolis was immediately interested and wanted to know more. Soon he and Pauline found out that they were relatives: Manolis is one of her mother’s brothers. Uncle and niece were totally absorbed in their animated conversation, discovering their common family ties. It was so heart-warming and touching to watch and listen as they bridged the decades and became family again. After a while though, I had to interrupt their conversation because we needed to complete our walk before dark.
Manolis and Pauline said goodbye and promised to see each other again the next day. I am sure that for Pauline, this meeting was the highlight of the Potamos walk.