My (not very) big, fat Greek Wannabees

I used to want to be Italian.

I was so envious of the big family gatherings with its noisy conversations, the joking, the copious amounts of food, the little children running over the old peoples' feet. The dozens of cousins.

On Sunday, my kids wanted to be Greek.

We were at the baptism for the third child of close friends. Walking into the stunning Greek Orthodox church for the ceremony, I was reminded of when their other two children were baptized and of their wedding. We have been part of several of this family's big events, and I recognized quite a few people.

After the traditional and lovely Greek ceremony, we went to a function hall for dinner. It took a little while, but pretty soon, my kids were off and running through the building with the other kids, acting as if they too had dark hair, dark eyes---in other words, acting just like they too were cousins.

On the dance floor, the girls joined the circle to dance to the Greek music.



I later told them that one of the things I love most about this type of gathering is knowing that the same music and dancing, these customs, have been done by people for thousands of years. Being a part of it is like being a part of the link between the past and the future.

The girls really enjoyed the traditional Greek music and tried to figure out the dance steps the grownups were doing. Jilly almost made me spit my drink out when she excitedly said, "MOMMY! We HAVE to get this CD!"



Even D enjoyed the dancing, albeit for different reasons. Seems he already knows how to pick 'em.