When my great grandfather was young fell in love with a girl from Fradato. Her father, though, wouldn’t give her blessing, allowing the couple to get married. He wouldn’t approve of his son-on-law, because he didn’t want his daughter to marry someone with less land in his name and grow poorer.

But, it’s a fact, love does not take no for an answer.

“We’ll elope” he told her one day. “At night, before you go to bed, make a pillow with your clothes, tie a string on your foot and throw it outside the window, and I’ll give you note”.
And so it happened. He went at night and pulled on the string that was dangling outside the window to wake her up, and he took her with him. He took her to Raches where they got married. They had six kids and a lot of grandchildren.

When, a long time after, one of her daughters in law asked my great grandmother how was it that she fell in love with him, she said: “He used to come over to the other side and dance at the festivals. The people would climb on the berms to admire him. I marveled as well, and I fell in love”.

Kiki Tsantiri for ikariamag.gr